Pig Killer

Chapter 294

Huang Zhongchang looked at his niece in astonishment, shook his head and laughed, "Then we, as elders, have to check and make sure her character is acceptable."

"Your second uncle is right. It's okay for me to be coquettish, but we have to find someone with good character." Shen Hui'e said seriously, 'Good moral character.'

"Of course." Huang Zhaoye said naively, "We have to find one that everyone is satisfied with."

Huang Zhongchang looked at their childish faces with his dark eyes and shook his head slightly in his heart. It was impossible for them to be satisfied with everything!

We are in a precarious situation now, let's wait until things are really settled, Huang Zhongchang thought to himself.

Huang Zhongchang looked at them with a smile on his face and said, "It's getting late, go wash up and go to bed."

"Oh!" They collected the bamboo slips on the table and put them back to their original place, got off the bed, bowed and walked out.

Da Chong waited until Brother Yuanji and Sister Zhaoye had left before he asked, "Mother, Father, we will also get married later, right?"

"Of course, the little brat hasn't even grown all his hair yet! How can he get married?" Huang Zhongchang rubbed his head with a smile and said, "You still want to get married."

"No, I don't want to. I'm still young!" The big tiger said with a red face and waved his hands in panic.

"I want to be twenty, too." The raccoon said coquettishly, "I don't want to be that early. I want to continue to be a child around you."

"Okay!" Huang Zhongchang looked at his daughter kindly and said, "Why don't you get married early? You can serve your husband, your mother-in-law and the whole family, and take care of the children. You can stay with us for a few more years."

Shen Hui'e looked at him in surprise. It was true that other people's girls were different from her own daughter.

"Why are you looking at me?" Huang Zhongchang asked her with his head tilted slightly. It was hard to ignore the look in her eyes.

"Nothing?" Shen Hui'e shook her head slightly.

"Mother, mother, our family needs to increase income and reduce expenditure." The tiger looked at her with innocent eyes and said, "Everyone will be short of money! There are so many people, and he collects so much tax! How can there be no money!"

"We collect a lot of money, and we also spend it a lot of money." Shen Hui'e said to them with her deep black eyes.

"If we don't build the palace, can't we also build the imperial mausoleum?" The tiger looked at her in confusion.

"No way!" Shen Hui'e smiled and said, "The expenses are too high, such as the salaries of officials. Just like the military pay, you can clearly feel it."

"Spend money like water." said the big tiger with a horrified look on his face.

"Yes!" Shen Hui'e looked at them solemnly and said, "A huge bureaucracy."

"Can't it be less?" Huang Zhongchang frowned and looked at her and said.

"Are there many people in our county?" Shen Hui'e turned her head slightly and looked at him and said.

"That's not much." Huang Zhongchang thought about it seriously and said, "Really not much."

"How many counties are there in the country? How many prefectures are there?" Shen Hui'e looked at them with raised eyebrows and said, "These are all the people who receive salaries from the court."

"Then we can reclaim more land and grow more crops." The big tiger looked at them with innocent eyes and said.

"Opening up new land is too tiring, and the output is pitiful." Shen Hui'e pinched her eyebrows and looked at him and said.

"Then let the officials farm too!" said the tiger without thinking.

"Silly boy." Huang Zhongchang looked at him with amusement and said, "They are officials. The nobles do not want to farm. They want to exploit the common people. If you let them farm, what's the difference between them and the common people!"

"They don't even pay taxes, and you expect them to work hard all day long. How is that possible?" Shen Hui'e looked at him with her bottomless eyes.

"Officials, don't you have to pay taxes?" The tiger said to them with eyes wide open.

"Yes!" Shen Hui'e nodded slightly.

"Why?" The tiger slapped the table and stood up.

"Because of their official positions!" Shen Hui'e looked at them with her inky black eyes and said, "They have more fertile land than us, and they produce more grain than us. If they could pay taxes, the court wouldn't have to impose additional grain taxes on the common people again and again."

"This is so unfair! They have a lot of good land, cows, and people rent their land to farm." The tiger said angrily.

"Son, this is reality." Huang Zhongchang looked at him with his dark eyes.

"Otherwise why should I get you an official position! In addition to protecting your own property, as an official, you don't have to pay grain." Shen Hui'e looked at him with a cold gaze.

"What we raise are not what we use, and what we use are not what we raise. This is the reason for the chaos." The raccoon slave said to them with eyes like black grapes.

"That's right!" Shen Hui'e said angrily, "The common people who farmed the land and the soldiers who fought in the wars risked their lives and efforts, but did not get the due rewards." She snorted, "The officials and nobles who supported us were respected, but they did not contribute much." She said with a sullen face, "They even surrendered and sold out the country! The nobles and officials, big and small, occupied a large amount of farmland. The farmers who lost their land could only rent the fields of the nobles. But these people would not take the initiative to assume the obligations of paying taxes, serving as officials, resisting foreign humiliation, suppressing rebellions, etc. that these lands and people should bear."

"They still want to rebel themselves!" Huang Zhongchang said with a smile, "The county governor we destroyed thought the same thing. Behind these rebel forces, big and small, there are wealthy merchants and dignitaries who are providing them with money and food!"

"Just like what happened in the past two years, if we have money to avoid paying grain, then we can pay money." Shen Hui'e looked at them with deep black eyes and said, "The court's taxes are heavy. If we have relatives in the government, we can register the land in their name and pay a little rent, which is less than what we pay to the court. I am not the only one who has such a small idea. Common people will do this, so the taxes that the court can collect will be less and less."

"Doesn't the imperial court know about this tax evasion?" Da Chong asked her with his eyes wide open.

"Maybe he knows, maybe he doesn't." Shen Hui'e raised her eyebrows slightly, "Now we have you who must know, but what about three generations later! The little emperor who grew up in the deep palace may not know. The emperor is far away, so he will directly take advantage of it and not pay the taxes that should be paid. Or the bold ones will empty the national treasury, just like the county magistrate colluded with the grain merchants and tried every means to turn the court's taxes into his own. It's okay if there is no external enemy! If the Huns encounter a disaster year and come to collect money, won't you fight back? The officials are all well-fed, but they have no money, no food, and no life. It's impossible to give money, labor, and food, and it's impossible in this life."

"Aren't they afraid of foreign enemies invading? If the skin is gone, the hair will fall off; if the nest is overturned, no eggs will be intact." The tiger looked at her with eyes wide open and said.

"Maybe they are not afraid! The emperor is gone, they surrender to the foreign enemies, and it is not impossible to change their official status. After all, the foreign enemies have a small population. If they want to rule such a large area, they definitely don't have enough people. So they can unite. These scums continue to ride on the heads of the common people and bully others. They won't lose anything." Shen Hui'e looked at them with deep black eyes and said, "Watch how the land is concentrated in the hands of a few people in the past two years!"

"I know! Natural disasters and man-made disasters, selling children and land. Robbery and plunder, using any means necessary." The raccoon slave looked at them with eyes like black grapes and said.

"I once said that wealth grows from the soil. The desire for land surpasses everything." Shen Hui'e's deep black eyes could not be shone by the candlelight. "In the later period of the dynasty, the emperor's control weakened, but various internal and external conflicts broke out. As one strengthened while the other weakened, the dynasty eventually collapsed."

"Mother, is there no way to avoid this?" Li Nu said nervously, grabbing her arm.

"There's truth to the old saying that wealth cannot last for more than three generations." Shen Hui'e looked at her with her ink-black eyes.

"Aniang has always been talking about expanding the pig slaughter business and encouraging farmers to raise more pigs. If there is enough profit, they will not snatch the meager profits from the common people." The big tiger looked at her with its big round eyes and said.

"That's right!" Shen Hui'e smiled brightly as she heard this and looked at him, "We have to find high profits to tempt these greedy guys!" She clenched her fists and said, "By then, he will be more active than us." She stroked her brow with her index finger and said, "Remember your original intention and don't forget your roots."

"Are you dedicated to the public? For the country and the people." The big tiger looked at her with his black eyes and said.

"Hmm!" Shen Hui'e looked at him with a cold gaze and said, "Otherwise they will be abandoned by the people. Although they are silent and no one listens to them, their combined strength is unstoppable!"

"I felt it clearly." Li Nu said after swallowing.

&*&

Huang Zhongchang looked at them tenderly and frowned slightly. They were talking so lively, but could they stop it?

Is it as natural as you say that people's selfish desires do not change?

"Then how do you collect taxes, father?" The tiger looked at him with burning eyes and asked, "Aren't the generals going to pay?"

"This?" Huang Zhongchang hesitated and looked at them frankly, "They will definitely follow the old rules! How can I innovate? Otherwise, who will follow you!" He then said, "People follow you just to have a good future. Those who follow you to endure hardships, compared with other forces, will run away."

"That's not the same as before!" The tiger sat on his legs deflatedly, like a deflated pig's bladder.

"There will definitely be changes." Shen Hui'e said, "For example, the more land you own, the more taxes you pay! With this calculation, people won't buy so much land. And there won't be so many people registering their land in the name of officials."

"Ah!" Li Nu's eyes lit up when he heard this, "That's a solution."

"Right! The key lies in the strength of execution." Shen Hui'e said as she looked at them with eyes as gentle as jade.

"You can't enforce it well, so no matter how good your plan is, it's useless." Shen Hui'e frowned as she looked at them and said, "There will always be someone who will take advantage of the situation."

"In the end, it still depends on people." Huang Zhongchang said with emotion.