Madam, She Has a Tender Heart

As for whether the magistrate's popularity has faded, Su Qingnao doesn't know. But Lu Bocheng passed the April government examination and became a boy student. If he passes the academy examination in June, he will be a scholar.

Lu Shengcai even came specially to report the good news to her.

From this point of view, Lu Bozu’s Yue family still contributed.

But Su Qingyu felt that the magistrate's anger should not go away. Because she didn’t pay much business tax before and it was a small business. How much profit could she make from the vegetables and meat on her plate? Therefore, the monthly business tax is not much.

But as soon as Master Ma's incident came out, her business tax increased several times, and she had to pay several taels of silver a month.

Su Qingyu thought it was targeting her, but when she asked the surrounding shops, she found out that everyone's business tax had doubled. Lu Shengcai's grocery store also paid a lot more. All the merchants in the town were complaining.

Everyone makes less money.

But what can you do? First, you have to pay. The common people don’t dare to fight with the officials. What they say is what they say. You have to pay as much as you are asked to pay.

Secondly, the shop cannot close down just because the business tax is too high. Even if the business tax is too much, it will only mean less profit. Is it possible to close the door and go home to drink the northwest wind?

Some shops that like to be clever close their shops and hide during the business tax collection days, such as Lu Yuzhu's good friend Qian Yueru and her father.

Shopkeeper Qian runs a cloth shop and has given birth to several daughters. Thinking about his son makes his eyes turn green. He is afraid that he will not be able to rely on him for old age in the future, so he is usually very picky. The doubling of business taxes immediately triggered a boom. It's no different than cutting out his flesh.

Commercial taxes are all collected by the county's money master himself. The days are generally relatively fixed, so the money manager is clever and closes the business on those days.

As soon as the people left, he flashed out. Seeing the complaints from the surrounding merchants, I was very happy and laughed at their stupidity. Unexpectedly, he was killed and turned around. A few days later, the county sent people to his shop to block people and fined him a lot of money.

Shopkeeper Qian almost fainted from the pain.

And some people lied in the shop and said they didn't belong to the owner, and people from the county directly blocked his home to collect it.

This operation frightened all the merchants in the town. I didn’t dare to go against the people in the yamen, but now I was punished by having to wear pants because I turned in late and protested. Who would dare to commit a crime against the wind?

Su Qingyu felt a little uneasy.

Could it be that the county magistrate has lost money from his private treasury and wants to make up for it from the merchants?

Sure enough, just after collecting the business tax, someone from the county came to collect the Ding tax from her.

Su Qingyao was confused.

Her family has given birth to a baby, but the baby has just given birth and is still too early to become a baby. So does he charge a baby tax? Doesn’t this dynasty stipulate that you should only start paying the Ding tax when you reach the age of 16?

And has the Ding tax increased so much?

After paying the Ding tax, she also had to pay an exemption tax. She said that there were no men in her family doing hard labor and they had to pay an exemption tax.

Before this was over, she was charged another household tax because she had divided her household. Then she was charged a deed tax for the sale of a house. Didn't her father-in-law pay the deed tax in the county when he transferred the ownership? Receive again?

And soon, another land tax was levied on the land under her name, more than in any previous year.

In addition to her, Aunt Zhou's family also paid back taxes. Her son was only eight years old, not even sixteen yet, so he also paid the male tax. Then Su Qingliu also paid the household tax, and Su's father also paid Xiao Qingyang's Ding tax.

After paying the Ding tax, there were young men everywhere in Fengting Town looking for jobs. Su Qingyu was surrounded by boys all day long asking if she wanted a part-time job.

Not to mention this, Su Dahu and Su's father also said that a tax card was set up at the gate of the city, and all goods entering and leaving the town must pay customs duties.

Isn't this tariff a tax levied on foreign goods at the border?

Will tariffs be collected from domestic merchants? Import duties? Does the above know?

I heard the tax card officer said that if you want to pass through the city gate, you have to pay taxes. Originally, the commercial tax paid by merchants was an estimated amount. Now when the tax card is placed and entering and exiting the city gate, the police will collect the tax based on the amount of goods.

Even the farmers who carry their burdens into the town to set up stalls will be taxed on those few vegetables and eggplants.

As a result, for a while, no one dared to carry a load into the town.

It turns out that the county looked down on farmers' small money, so Hua Bao and others went to ask for it from farmers. Now, people from the county come directly to collect it. As a result, Hua Bao and others lost their jobs.

Not to mention, the county collects total money from merchants. It is said that for every one or two transactions, another 30 yuan will be charged. Not only the total payment is collected, but also the monthly payment.

Monthly pile money was the imperial court's requirement for counties and governments to hand over a certain amount of silver every year in order to raise military expenses. In previous years, all counties and governments paid the tax from taxes, but this time, they also levied it specifically from merchants and farmers.

Suddenly, everyone in the town was wailing. Many businesses have closed.

After the tax card was installed at the city gate, farmers no longer came to the town to carry their burdens, and the number of people coming to Su Qing's shop to buy vegetables increased sharply.

Farmers did not pick vegetables to sell in the town. Although Su Dahu and Su's father collected a lot of vegetables, once the city gate tax card was set up, they would be charged a so-called customs fee every time they brought vegetables in.

As a result, although the number of customers in Su Qingyu's store increased every month, her profit decreased.

Su Ergu and another vegetable shop were struggling and could no longer operate. Both stores raised their vegetable prices in unison. If your county collects my wool, I will collect the guest's wool.

As a result, a large number of customers flocked to her store. Su Qingnao had no choice but to be forced by the other two companies to also adjust the price. After all, her costs have increased.

Everyone in the town suddenly lived frugally.

The usual lively scenes of restaurants and bars outside have not appeared for a long time.

A few days later, Liu Juye came to see her and specifically told her not to resist the tax.

It is said that many merchants and farmers who resisted taxes were arrested and imprisoned in the county jail. What happened in the end? No, I still haven’t endured it. In the end, the shop was gone, the land was sold, and a lot of money had to be spent to redeem the person.

How could Su Qingyu, a small citizen, dare to challenge people from the yamen? But that didn't stop her from complaining: "Don't you know, the magistrate, that the magistrate sets up random names to collect taxes?"

Liu Juye curled his lips and said, "Why don't you know? Someone has already complained to the higher authorities, but most of the tax money collected by the magistrate was paid to the government on the face of the public. Does the government still think it's too much money? It's just turning a blind eye. Just eyes.”

Su Qingyu sighed: "If the conquest continues like this, the lives of ordinary people will not be able to survive."

"No. But since ancient times, how many Qingtian lords have been in charge of the life and death of the people?"

Su Qingyu thought so.

Then I heard Liu Juye say: "By the way, I heard that you two have been separated?"

Su Qingyao nodded: "As soon as Master Ma's incident comes out, the family is afraid that the higher-ups will put pressure on Lu Bozu's future."

He smiled again: "It's okay to separate, just to be quiet."

Liu Juye took a deep look at her: "I don't know what's going on with Bo Cheng now. If he knew that he was still fighting bloody battles outside, but his wife and children were separated at home, he would definitely be sad."

Seeing Su Qingyao's relieved look, he sighed: "If you have any problems in the future, just come to me. My father is quite useful in the county now. He may not be able to help with big things, but he can still protect you with small things."