Chapter 1 1. Autumn Tax
Autumn, the forty-eighth year of prosperity and prosperity.

Xujia Village, at the foot of Izumo Mountain.

The autumn harvest had just passed, and the grain that had been harvested and stored in the warehouse had not even passed through the hands of the farmers twice, when the warehouse-level officials responsible for collecting land taxes rushed in from Ningyang Town like sharks smelling blood.

At the entrance of Xujia Village.

At this time, the villagers, some carrying sacks of rice, gathered together with bitter faces, waiting for the arrival of the three officials.

"It's time to pay the autumn tax at the end of the year again"

someone lamented.

There are about a hundred households in Xujia Village, and every household is made up of peasants who work in the fields. The days when summer and autumn taxes are collected every year are the most painful times for everyone.

In a family of five in a corner of the crowd, a woman in her thirties looked at three carriages approaching the village entrance from a distance and muttered quietly:

"I hope the officials won't go too far this year."

Hearing his mother Liu Fang's unrealistic words, the thin boy Xu Qing, who was sitting on the sack, couldn't help but shook his head.

Hope those tax collectors will show mercy?
how is this possible.

This is tantamount to letting the hungry wolf eat less meat!
Just think about it and you will know that it is impossible.

While he was thinking about it, three officials driving a horse-drawn carriage had arrived at the entrance of Xujia Village.

"Three adults." Village chief Xu Youfu hurriedly stepped forward with a flattering look on his face.

"Is everyone here?"

"Everyone is here."

The leading clerk nodded and dismounted, "Then stop talking nonsense and get started. Next, those who are called come forward!"

Relying on his thin stature, Xu Qing squeezed to the front to observe the three officials.

The three clerks were all of strong build and had sharp eyes. They did not look like scholars serving pens and ink at all, but more like soldiers.

One of them holds a pen, ink and a fish scale atlas.

The Fish Scale Atlas is a land registration book that records in detail the land and population conditions of each household in Ningyang Town and dozens of surrounding villages. It is named after the fact that the field map resembles fish scales.

Another person lifted a wooden official cup from the carriage.

The last person did nothing but stood aside, with a cold and hard face and a knife at his waist, exuding a stern deterrent aura.

Xu Qing's gaze was mainly fixed on the clerk next to the official cup. With a clear light in his eyes, he quietly explored the "Qi" in his body.

A few moments.

Xu Qing returned to his family.

When the eldest brother Xu Huo saw Xu Qing coming back, he hurriedly asked, "San'er, how are you?"

Father Xu, Mother Xu and the second son Xu Huai also cast their eyes over.

Xu Qing said with a gloomy face: "I'm afraid it will be difficult to deal with him this year. The guy who kicked the hu has strong blood and energy. He is a martial artist."

During the Dasheng period, officials had low salaries and could only obtain extra income through some unconventional means, one of which was the "Linjiankihu" method during the collection of summer and autumn taxes.

The so-called "linjiantihu" means that when collecting taxes, rice needs to be piled into a pointed pile in the official hu. At this time, the officials kick the hu, and everything that falls out is considered a loss. Not only can the people not take it back, but they have to make up for the shortfall.

The operation of kicking the bucket sounds simple, but it is actually a technical job.

Officials were concerned about their reputation, so most of them would only kick once. And when they did so, they had to not let the hu fall, but also to cause as much damage as possible.

This really tests the leg strength of the official who is kicking the stick.

Xu Qing was most afraid of encountering this kind of martial artist who came to play kicking the hu.

When practicing martial arts, the first thing you must practice is the lower body.

As long as the lower body is stable, even if you have not practiced leg skills specifically, it is still very easy to kick out with the same amount of damage as the kick.

The world that Xu Qing traveled to half a year ago was a world where all kinds of supernatural powers really existed, and martial artists were one of them.

However, although low-level martial artists cannot compare to the practitioners of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism in appearance, those who can practice martial arts have good status and wealth, so there is no reason for them to become such low-level clerks.

The worst that can happen is to become a constable.

When Xu's mother Liu Fang heard this, she frowned and sighed, "I was hoping to have more food left over this year so that your elder brother and second brother can start a family."

The eldest and second oldest also looked worried.

Only Father Xu looked calm, or rather numb.

"Stop sighing. Don't let people see what's wrong with our family."

After Mr. Xu spoke, the others had to remain silent, but their faces showed obvious expressions of worry.

The clerk holding the fish scale map loudly called out the names of the households one by one, and the families whose names were called came forward with sacks and poured the sharp rice into the official measuring cup.

When the bucket was piled up, the official who was kicking the bucket stepped forward and kicked the wall of the bucket.

With a dull sound, the tip of the rice pile fell to the ground like snowflakes, which was frightening to watch.

Just as Xu Qing said, the official who kicked the hu was indeed very skilled.

Normally, a kick of the hu would knock down about eight or nine liters, nearly a dou. However, this man could steadily kick down a dou and a half, or as much as two dou.

The villagers of Xujia Village couldn't help but groan inwardly when they saw this.

Fortunately, Xujia Village is located in the south of the Yangtze River, with fertile arable land. In addition, the harvests have been good in recent years, so no one is unable to pay the autumn tax.

But with less food on hand, the coming winter days would be difficult to endure.

Time goes by
"Next, Xu Daniu."

When their names were called, Xu Qing and his family came forward carrying sacks of rice.

The clerk holding the fish scale atlas read out the situation of Xu Qing's family:
"The next door."

"A family of five people, four boys and one girl, owns two acres of good land, four acres of medium land, eight acres of low land, and three acres of vegetable land. They need to pay one stone and six dou of fine rice."

After saying this, Father Xu and the eldest brother took up the sacks and poured the rice into the jar.

The clerk standing by the official cup glanced at Xu Qing's family and saw Xu's father, who was half hunched over, the eldest and second oldest sons, who were tall and strong, and Xu Qing, who was thin but obviously over ten years old.

I immediately had an idea in mind.

He exerted force with his foot and kicked it hard.

thump—

The official bucket was tilted backwards but did not fall completely. Countless pointed grains of rice fell in the direction of its tilt.

"It's missing two dou and a half." The clerk took a glance and told the exact amount that was missing.

Xu Qing's eyelids twitched when he heard this.

Too bad!
This kick actually created a gap of two and a half meters!

One hu is five dou, which is directly reduced by half. If calculated based on the current rice price of ten wen per liter, it would be two hundred and fifty wen, which is enough to buy five catties of pork!

Xu's mother and the eldest and second sons gnashed their teeth, but dared not say anything.

Father Xu said nothing and stepped forward to quietly complete the task.

The official collected the first dou of fine rice and continued with the next dou, leaving a gap of another two dou and a half!

Xu Qing wished he could bite his teeth to pieces.

One mu of good land can normally produce between one and two dan of rice. A medium-sized field that can produce one dan is already very good, not to mention the lower fields.

During the autumn season, their family worked from morning till night and did not dare to rest for a single day, but they only harvested nine stone of rice.

After deducting the tax payers, the five people received no more than 15 dou each.

This is the food ration for everyone in their family for the next few months.

And five dou of rice is enough food for an adult for a month!

The eldest brother Xu Huo was impatient and was about to rush up to argue: "Sir, you kicked too many times, didn't you?!"

Xu Qing and the second brother Xu Huai were horrified and quickly grabbed their eldest brother who was talking without thinking.

"Big brother!"

"Don't be impulsive!"

The official who kicked the hu wood suddenly turned cold, and his eyes narrowed slightly: "Are you questioning me?"

"Asshole! Shut up!"

Father Xu yelled in rage, loudly scolding the eldest son Xu Huo, then turned to the clerk and forced a very awkward, flattering smile on his stiff face:

"No, no, sir, that is not what my eldest son meant."

"We'll make up for it right away!"

Father Xu then made up for the missing rice and poured in another bucket of rice until the rice was piled high and formed a cone shape.

The official who kicked the stick snorted coldly.

He swept his eyes over the boss Xu Huo with mockery, then he gathered his strength with his feet and kicked out hard.

Accompanied by a dull sound that was much louder than the previous one, this time the official Hu actually flew into the air, turned up and down, and landed steadily!
"We are short of four and a half dou." The clerk who was kicking the huo laughed disdainfully, "Fill it up quickly!"

The words fell.

For a moment, flames seemed to burn in Xu Qing's eyes.

He didn't expect that the other party had no regard for his face at all and almost kicked out a bucket of rice!

The land tax of one stone and six dou and the surcharge of nine dou and a half, nearly one stone, are definitely the heaviest taxes no matter where they are placed!

The three Xu Qing brothers were furious at this scene, but the other two officials did not react at all.

In their eyes, this matter is totally insignificant.

I'm just a peasant, so what if I go a little too far?
"Yes, yes, sir, we'll make it up right away!"

Father Xu was afraid that his three young and energetic sons would do something bad out of anger.

Even when the clerk reported the missing parts, he was a little dazed when he heard the missing quantity, but he reacted immediately and trotted forward to make up for it.

Xu Qing looked at his father, whose face was filled with pain but who did not dare to resist as he poured rice into the pot, and clenched his fists tightly in his sleeves.

Even though he had some special qualities, he still had no right to jump around in front of a guy who had practiced martial arts and was an official.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to suppress his anger.

After paying the autumn tax, Xu's father took his family away without saying a word.

on the way home.

The boss Xu Huo frowned and slapped himself hard: "It's all my fault."

Father Xu did not blame the eldest brother, but said earnestly: "The people should not fight against the officials. Don't be so impulsive in the future. It's better to eat less than nothing."

Xu's mother Liu Fang looked worried:
"We originally thought that the loss would be at most four dou, and the remaining would be enough for the family to get through the winter. Now the land tax is 1.6 dou plus the loss of 9.5 dou, so we have to save on food from now on."

"Let's get more sweet potatoes." Father Xu sighed.

Xu Qing looked at his depressed family members and suddenly spoke:
"Dad, when you were working in the fields yesterday, you said that Uncle Zhang could take me to the Taoist temple where he used to be a disciple to practice. You were in a hurry to work in the fields at that time, so I couldn't ask you in detail. Is this true?"

Father Xu looked at Xu Qing in surprise and said thoughtfully, "You want to go?"

"Go!" Xu Qing's eyes were firm: "Why not go if you can!"

If he doesn't go, he will be at the bottom of the society and be stepped on by others all his life. Now that he has such an opportunity, he must seize it no matter what!
Moreover, he was not without support—

When he traveled to this world half a year ago, he found that the twelve guardian gods in a picture of gods that he found in his ancestral home in his previous life appeared in his mind!
　Some readers are disgusted by the fact that the protagonist obviously has innate wisdom but still does not practice Taoism at the age of fourteen. I can understand that, after all, online novels are meant to be fun.

　　So the beginning was changed a bit, Su Hui was changed to just traveling through time for half a year, and some corresponding changes were also made to the following parts.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)