Chapter 493: Our Shanzi is the most honest and the most caring for his fellow villagers

Chapter 493: Our Shanzi is the most honest and the most caring for his fellow villagers

The village chief and the elders looked at Sun Shan like a fool. They thought the question was too naive and should not be asked.

Sun Shan looked at the village chief and the elders in confusion.

He really couldn't understand why they did this? Putting the land quota in Sun Shan's name to avoid taxes must be for the sake of gaining benefits.

Such a decision made by the village chief and elders will not benefit the villagers at all, so why do it?

In Sun Shan's opinion, if the villagers leave their land with Sun Shan, they must pay less tax than the government in order to make it count. If they pay exactly the same amount as the government, then they are just looking for trouble.

There are also many risks to be taken.

One of the elders explained: "The villagers' fields are registered in your name, and they pay taxes to you just like they pay taxes to the government. The villagers will benefit a lot. It's impossible to register the fields in your name and you won't get any benefits. You're just occupying the quota for nothing."

It is natural for Sun Shan to benefit from registering the land under his name, and he intends to do so.

But he couldn't understand why the village chief and the elders paid taxes directly according to the government's tax amount.

Could it be that Huang Xiangyang is a scholar without any official title, so the village chief and clan elders don’t know what the rules are?

There are scholars with honors in Huangyang County, but the tax-free quota is too small, usually not enough for their own families, so they will not share the quota with others.

As for officials, there are really few local officials in Huangyang County.

The county magistrate, county magistrate, and inspector were not native to Huangyang County.

The chief clerk was a native of Huangyang County and had a high rank.

Back then, when Zhang Zhubo's son was going to take part in the county examination, he was looking for students to make friends with. Everyone was afraid of him as a local tyrant, so they tried every means to find someone to make friends with before Zhang Zhubo even opened his mouth.

As a result, Sun Shan entered the imperial examination earlier.

Huangyang County did not have a strong literary tradition and few educated people, so all officials of high rank were transferred from outside.

Originally these positions should be occupied by locals, but their abilities do not allow them to do so, and they do not meet the basic requirements. Even if they have connections, they cannot get the positions, so they are in a state of being powerless.

It is said that Zhang Zhubo was an old scholar from the previous dynasty. At that time, people were scarce, and with the right time, place and people, Zhang Zhubo successfully squeezed into the ranks of officials and gentry on behalf of the locals and became a ninth-rank official.

Zhang Zhubo recognized Sun Shan and greeted him warmly when he saw him. He felt that Sun Shan was a local and one of his own, so he treated him particularly well.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhang Zhubo's son liked to cheat in his studies, Sun Shan would have had a good impression of Zhang Zhubo.

As for what happened to Zhang Zhubo's son later, Sun Shan did not ask, but he definitely failed to pass the imperial examination and become a scholar.

Sun Shan discovered that the only local official and gentry seemed to be Zhang Zhubo.

I heard that he has a wealthy family and is well-known in Huangyang County.

Of course, Sun Shan is also famous now, and his fame is comparable to that of Zhang Zhubo.

The ninth-rank official can also be exempted from taxes. It is said that he can be exempted from taxes on one hectare of land, which is 100 acres.

However, there are so few tax-free quotas, I believe that the land belonging to host Zhang is more than 100 acres.

Therefore, Host Zhang has no reference value.

Sun Shan asked doubtfully, "Grandpa, what are the benefits for the villagers?"

Is it to save on travel expenses?

It was only a few steps away from Sun Shan to pay the tax to the government, and then he had to transport the grain out of the mountain and queue up to pay the tax.

Seeing that Sun Shan really didn't understand, another elder asked, "Do you know how to kick the huo lin jian and zhe se huo hao?"

Sun Shan understood why the villagers would rather take the risk and pay the same tax to him than pay it to the government.

Two magic weapons used by officials for corruption.

One is the fire consumption.

It refers to the fact that when farmers pay taxes, they sometimes use silver and copper coins instead of physical objects. Officials claim that these loose silver will be lost in the process of being recycled, so these losses must of course be borne by the taxpayers.

In the actual recycling process, only the government officials know whether there is any loss or how much the loss is. The common people do not know the truth and can only be forced to hand over the excess silver.

These losses are the government’s “extra income”.

The second is to kick the tip of the sword.

When inspecting and accepting tax grain, the hu would be kicked hard with the foot. The grain on the top of the hu would spill down but the hu would not fall over. The grain that flowed down was euphemistically called "loss", and the part that was kicked out was the so-called loss in grain transportation.

This part became the legal income of the officials. As for the common people, they could only go home and send more food.

"Kick to the tip of the tongue", this kick is very particular.

Officials practiced this kick for a long time. The specific method might be to find a tree near their home and start by kicking it. The highest level is when the trunk does not move and leaves fall. Once you kick it, it is yours. This is also a compulsory course for officials.

I heard that many of the new scholars who were about to take up posts in government offices began to practice "internal strength" before taking office. The purpose was to make their kicks fast, accurate, short, flat and quick, so that they could kick out more grains without knocking over the bucket.

Because the "loss" from the kick is legal income. Both officials and clerks are very keen on doing this.

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Sun Shan had never seen Lord Wei of Huangyang County kick, but it was different for the officials under him. They kicked with such precision that the common people were left speechless with suffering.

The chief continued, "Every time the villagers go to pay the grain tax, they pay part in silver and part in grain. Alas, every time they lose a lot, they pay more and more. Especially now that they pay more taxes, the villagers are having a harder and harder time."

The village chief slapped his thigh and said angrily, "Since you passed the imperial examination, the yamen runners have been keeping an eye on our village, so the losses are not that great. People from other villages are much worse off than us. We thought that if we put the village's fields in your name, and pay the same taxes as the government, there would be no losses. And the losses that should be suffered will be borne by the villagers. Shanzi, what do you think?"

Sun Shan raised a question: "Village head, I have no objection to the villagers registering the land in my name. But I am afraid that the villagers will worry that I will embezzle the land."

We still need to make this issue clear. If you can trust it, then register. If you can't trust it, then don't register.

In order to prevent the villagers from becoming suspicious and half-believing after registering, Sun Shan does not have the energy to deal with all that.

The village chief looked at Sun Shan like an idiot and said unhappily, "Shanzi, you are from our Sunjia Village. If you embezzle the hard-earned land of your fellow villagers, you will be struck by lightning."

Sun Shan choked and was speechless.

Another clan leader said with a smile: "Shanzi, if you dare to embezzle our land, it will be bad for your reputation. We will also expel you from the clan."

Sun Shan understood.

If Sun Shan wanted to be an official, he had to have a good reputation. If he was expelled from the Sun family, he would not be able to pass the test of good character.

If he is given an important position, this will become a stain that will be attacked by political enemies and will be despised by the people of the world.

If Sun Shan had been far-sighted, he would not have been greedy for the tiny bit of land of his fellow villagers.

The village chief and the elders also saw this and believed that Sun Shan would not destroy his own future.

When Sun Bomin heard about the expulsion of the clan, he said anxiously: "Village head, clan elders, our family will definitely not embezzle the villagers' land. We are not that kind of people."

This is a big deal. Sun Bomin is an honest man. Even if Sun Shan embezzles the money, he will beat Sun Shan to death for being an unfilial son who ruins his reputation. His Sun family must never do such a thing.

Not to mention Sun Bomin, even Uncle Sun, who was always cunning and treacherous, said: "Village head, clan elders, our Shanzi was just asking for clarification, he would never do such a thing. Our Shanzi is the most honest and cares for his fellow villagers the most."