Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 558 - 0519 Help (2)

Second Young Master Lou asked him, "How are you going to ask?"

Lou Chengye chuckled, "Using some special methods. You all wait here, I’ll be back soon."

Second Young Master Lou wasn’t confident in him, so he sent a guard to follow him.

Lou Chengye walked into another room and separately asked for the names of several people.

He had a good memory, and silently memorized these six names in his mind.

Lou Chengye then carried a torch with the guard and strode into the village.

The guard asked, "Fifth Young Master, who are we going to ask?"

Lou Chengye replied, "Just find someone randomly to ask."

The guard said, "But the Second Young Master said that people in the village have good relations with each other. Will they talk?"

Lou Chengye grinned slyly, "That’s why I said we need to use special methods."

The two walked into the village, looking around aimlessly.

On a cold, freezing night like the one in January, there wasn’t a soul on the village path.

The guard asked, "Fifth Young Master, there’s no one here. Who can we ask?"

Lou Chengye looked at a house with lights on ahead, and said, "Let’s ask at that house."

The guard replied, "Alright, let me ask."

It was a solitary household, with a man yelling at his son inside.

From the yelling, it seemed the eldest son had wet the bed and knocked over a fire pot.

The wife was soothing the young son while blaming the man for not watching the older son properly.

The whole family was in an uproar.

Lou Chengye and the guard approached the door, and the guard reached out to knock, "Open up, we need to talk."

He had a foreign accent, and both the man and woman inside stopped talking simultaneously.

"We need to talk, open the door," the guard knocked again and asked.

The man’s voice was alert, "Who is it?"

"Tian Laoqi sent me," said Lou Chengye.

Tian Laoqi was referred to as "Seventh Uncle" by those people earlier.

"Uncle Tian Qi?" The man walked to the door, opened it, and saw a chubby teenager and a middle-height young man standing there. He raised his eyebrows suspiciously, "What did Uncle Tian Qi say?"

The man didn’t let them inside.

They threw their torches to the ground, stomped them out, and forced their way inside.

"Hey, who are you?" The man angrily questioned.

The woman inside became alarmed, "Ah Niu, what’s going on?"

Lou Chengye said, "Don’t be nervous, we just want to ask something, we won’t trouble you."

The guard walked to the bedroom and even shut the door.

The woman guarded her two sons, frightened, and said, "We’re just ordinary farmers, we don’t have any money. Try another household."

Lou Chengye took out a handful of coins from his purse and placed them on the table, "This is for the inconvenience."

The man glanced at them and then the coins, boldly asking, "What do you want to ask?"

"Last autumn, someone came from the county government to collect a head tax from the village. Did this happen? How many people in your family, and how much tax did you pay?"

The man’s face immediately changed, and he hesitated, unwilling to speak.

"Uncle Tian Qi mentioned that your family of four paid forty taels in tax, correct?" Lou Chengye said.

The man looked at him in surprise, "Who are you really?"

"I’m just asking if you’re willing to pay these taxes?" Lou Chengye stared at the man and asked.

The man bit his lip, glancing at Lou Chengye and then at the guard, saying nothing.

Lou Chengye said, "If you speak the truth, the taxes paid will be refunded to you. If you’re willing to let yourself be taxed, you can choose not to say anything."

Before the man could speak, the woman inside spoke first, "We don’t want to! We were forced!"

"Woman, what nonsense are you saying?" The man shouted toward the door.

"Did I say anything wrong? Both Da Niu and Er Niu have been sold to big families in the county town; we’ll never see them again in this lifetime. You still won’t let me talk about it?" The woman suddenly began to cry.

When she cried, the two little children in the room followed suit.

The man was vexed by the crying, "You crazy woman, what nonsense are you talking about?"

Lou Chengye took out some money from his pocket and threw it through the crack in the door, "Sister-in-law, take this money first to buy some food for the kids. Tell me about this poll tax matter."

This time, he grabbed more money than before.

The woman thanked him behind the door and started talking about the taxes, "The village bridge was washed away by floods, and someone from the county government came, saying they would repair the bridge for the village, but they demanded a poll tax of ten taels of silver from each person in the two villages on either side of the river. If we don’t pay, we’ll be taken away."

The man sighed heavily, crouched down, and anxiously grabbed his hair.

Inside, the woman spoke again about their situation.

Her parents-in-law died early, her own family was poor, she had four children, and the family of six had to pay sixty taels of silver.

The children were all minors; the family relied on the man farming two acres and catching some wild game to earn money. She also managed to find time to do some needlework with her two daughters, who were just over ten, to help with household expenses.

But this income barely sufficed for the family’s basic needs and paying land taxes; the sudden poll tax of ten taels per person was simply unaffordable.

The couple cried for three days, and finally, with great pain, they sold their thirteen-year-old eldest daughter and ten-year-old young daughter to a wealthy family in the county town for twenty taels of silver each, requiring a written contract of sale that they’d never meet again in their lifetime.

Having sold the daughters, the poll tax at home was reduced, and they had the money to pay the tax for the other family members.

The woman spoke tearfully while the man outside sighed long and short.

Lou Chengye turned and looked at the man, "Do you have anything else to say?"

The man chuckled bitterly, "The official’s regulations—how can we little commoners oppose them? Please don’t joke and harm us." The man waved his hand at Lou Chengye, "We appreciate your kindness, but a tax refund is impossible. Please leave."

Lou Chengye looked at the guard beside him, "Where’s your token? Show it to him."

"Yes, Fifth Young Master." The guard took out a pear wood token from the hidden pouch at his waist and handed it to the man to inspect, "I’m from the prefecture government office, and this is the Fifth Young Master of the Lord Prefect. Feel free to say anything you want; accompanying us are also the fifth-rank official, Liu Tongzhi, seventh-rank official, Chen Zhubo, and several other young masters."

The man couldn’t understand the token’s inscription, but he could see the item was exquisitely crafted with four curved characters on it.

He was barely literate but recognized these four characters "Prefect Guard."

"Are you...really from the prefecture government?" The man looked at Lou Chengye and the guard, his face full of disbelief.

Lou Chengye said, "The Lord Prefect is already aware of the chaotic tax collection in your village and has questioned the County Magistrate, but he suspects the County Magistrate’s report is inaccurate and has specifically sent us to investigate the real situation in the village."

The man still didn’t believe Lou Chengye, "Even though you speak eloquently, I, a mere commoner, can’t understand your words."

Lou Chengye frowned, "There’s the government token here. Why don’t you believe it?"

The man hesitated and wouldn’t speak.

The guard was older and had been to many places.

He knew what the man was afraid of, so he said, "Fifth Young Master, he has valid concerns. He worries that once we’re gone, the county government people will come to penalize them again. The mountains are high, and the Emperor is far away; local officials hold sway."

Lou Chengye suddenly understood, "Ah, that’s the case. Well then, come with me to Tian Changtui’s house; all the government people are there, including Tian Laoqi. Surely you can believe now?"

The woman inside also urged the man, "You must go! If they really refund the money, we can ransom back our daughters, forty taels of silver."

The man gritted his teeth, "Alright, I’ll go with you."

Lou Chengye and the guard breathed a sigh of relief and relit the torches.

After instructing the woman and closing the door, the man followed Lou Chengye and the guard to the host family’s house.

Upon entering, Lou Chengye invited Second Young Master Lou and his entourage. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Lou Chengye told everyone about the previous situation, "His account matches that of Tian Laoqi and the others, that the two villages on either side of the river are charged a head tax of ten taels per person, and his family can’t afford the tax, having sold two daughters."

"Honorable sir, is it really possible to refund the tax?" The man looked at Second Young Master Lou and the others, both amazed and doubtful.

Second Young Master Lou didn’t understand, looking at Lou Chengye, "What tax refund?"

The tax refund matter was something Lou Chengye concocted himself, so he scratched the back of his head, reluctantly saying, "Second brother, this tax collection was out of order; once we investigate thoroughly, surely it can be refunded, right? Second brother?"

Whether the refund would happen depended on their father’s decision.

However, for gathering evidence, Second Young Master Lou had to agree with Lou Chengye, "Indeed, once the investigation is complete, and you all testify to having paid the tax, it can be refunded."

Liu Tongzhi also added, "The Lord Prefect knows the old bridge over the river was washed away by floods and has allocated three thousand taels of silver from the prefecture government’s storage to the county government, yet your village was still charged a poll tax. This money involves forged documents for tax collection. If this matter is verified, the Lord Prefect will handle it fairly and restore justice to your village."

"This is Deputy Chen from the prefecture office, whose rank exceeds that of your County Magistrate. When he meets the County Magistrate, the latter has to greet him respectfully." Second Young Master Lou pointed to Chen Tongzhi.

To convince the man of their identity, Second Young Master Lou instructed other guards to present their tokens.

Liu Tongzhi and Chen Zhubo also presented their documents to prove their identities.

Only then did the man believe them, gratefully kneeling down, "Oh, great officials, you are indeed just like the noble judges of the heavens!"