After the truth came out, they begged me not to die.

"It's the big girl who's back."

The middle-aged woman murmured, opened the quilt, and struggled to get up. The older girl sat beside the bed and helped her up.

Chen Zuncai saw the middle-aged woman's face clearly.

Her face was sallow and her lips were bloodless, showing a sickly purple color.

"cough……"

The middle-aged woman sat up when she coughed violently, and her breathing was as loud as a bellows.

When the coughing stopped, the middle-aged woman asked weakly: "Big girl, have you caught up with your father?"

"Caught up."

"What did he say?"

"Daddy said that you should take care of your health and wait for him to come back." The girl was young but sensible. She didn't mention the matter of asking her to remarry, but just comforted her mother.

"Oh..." the middle-aged woman responded and sat blankly for a while, seeming to be sleepwalking and muttering to herself: "Brother Li San next door has been arrested for three years and has not come back. I'm afraid your father is too. Can’t come back.”

Her voice was calm, but there was an air of despair and no hope.

After saying this, the middle-aged woman raised her head and saw three more people in the room.

She asked doubtfully: "Who are you?"

The big girl on the side responded quickly: "They are good people. I fainted on the road before, and they were the ones who sent me back."

"Thank you for sending my daughter back."

After the middle-aged woman thanked her, she said to the older girl: "How can you let distinguished guests stand when they come to the door?"

It's a pity that apart from the bed, this house is spacious enough for three people to stand on it, so there are no extra stools.

The girl quickly turned around and walked out of the house, borrowing some stools from her neighbors.

She wiped the stool with her sleeves and moved it in front of the three of them.

"Uncle, sister, Master, please sit down."

When Shen Ruoyan saw that the stool was dark and covered with a layer of oily pulp, she didn't intend to sit down: "I'm not tired, just stand."

"Amitabha, you don't have to be polite, little donor." Monk Wanfu recited the Buddha's name and still stood.

Except for special occasions, Buddhist disciples seldom sit on stools, but mostly meditate and stand.

Chen Zun moved the stool in front of the bed. He didn't mind it. He sat on the stool and said, "Hello, sister-in-law. I have some questions for you. I wonder if you can help me clear up my confusion?"

While he was talking, he stretched out his hand to rub the baby's little head. The little guy obviously recognized the stranger. He got up and leaned into the middle-aged woman's arms. He buried his head in her arms, then quietly turned around and looked curiously. With Chen Zun.

"Ask me, and I will tell you everything I know." The middle-aged woman reached out and hugged the doll, wiped the doll's dirty face with her hands, and replied weakly.

Chen Zun did not ask questions immediately. He first took out two candied haws like magic and handed one to the big girl. Then he smiled at the doll and said, "Come here, uncle, I'll give you some candies."

Shen Ruoyan was stunned for a moment and saw that it was taken out of the storage bag, and wondered why there was candied haws in Chen Zun's storage bag.

The doll's eyes were wide open, and saliva flowed from the corner of his mouth again. This time, he couldn't hold it back. He crawled out of the middle-aged woman's arms, reached out to grab the candied haws, then leaned towards the big girl and started licking it.

The middle-aged woman saw it and said thank you again without stopping.

"Sister-in-law, I want to ask you, I see the crops in the farmland are so good, why can't I pay taxes?"

Chen Zun saw the children outside the hut with their heads hanging out and looking around. He took out a few candied haws and handed them to Shen Ruoyan to distribute to them, and then he spoke seriously about the questions in his heart.

He grew up in the market and knew that what the people depended on for survival was the crops in the fields. Logically speaking, as long as he planted ten acres of land and the harvest was good, there would be no problem in survival.

Even if the harvest is poor, it will not result in the inability to pay taxes.

The middle-aged woman smiled bitterly.

"Young master, you don't know. This land is not ours, but rented. No matter how good the harvest is, most of the rice must be handed over to the landlords."

Chen Zun was surprised: "Don't you have land?"

“We still had land in the early years,” the middle-aged woman recalled.

"It's just that we rely on God to make a living by growing crops. In drought years and when the harvest is not good, people from the government come to collect land taxes, poll taxes, Ding taxes, etc. If they can't pay the taxes, they have to ask the landlords to borrow money from the land. These loans The profits are high, and once they are not paid, the compound interest will be multiplied several times. When the crops are not harvested the next year, taxes and money will have to be paid again. Once the money is not paid, the landlord will take away the land. .”

"And since we have lost our land, we still have to rent it from the landlord for farming. The harvest from an acre of land is 64 cents. We only get 40% of the small share. We have to support our families and pay taxes for this 40%." Once passed down, not even 10% of the rations can reach our hands, and over time, we can't even pay taxes."

The middle-aged woman wiped away tears when she said this.

"If you can't even pay the taxes, those officials will not care whether you live or die. They will take people from your family to do hard labor in order to offset the taxes. Many families have reached the point where they have been drafted and can only buy and sell their sons and daughters in exchange for money to pay taxes. Just escaped a disaster."

"And when spring comes, you need to buy seeds, rent cattle, and have to pay the landlord, and the land rent is raised by 10%. Even if there is a good harvest, you still can't pay taxes later. It's because of this that my men can't finish sowing the spring seeds." Soon, he was captured by the conscripting officer."

Chen Zun understood something in his heart.

Most of the crops and grains grown by the common people were taken away by the landlords in the first instance. When the government came to the government, a lot of taxes were collected and most of the grains were taken away. After being exploited in this way, the little rations left were really hard to support the family. Very difficult.

It got to the point where children and daughters were sold to keep the rest of the family from starving to death.

Even so, it would not last long. Once the taxes could not be paid, they would have to recruit strong men from home to do hard labor to offset the taxes.

Chen Zun said: "Does the government not care about such a heavy tax?"

This has reached the point where people are having a hard time making a living. If local officials do nothing, can't they reduce some taxes?

"It would be good if we don't increase taxes. How can we reduce taxes? In recent years, taxes have become heavier year by year, and there are more and more various tax names."

The middle-aged woman shed tears and shook her head and said: "Why do the officials care about us poor people? As long as the taxes cannot be paid, they will send officials to arrest people. It makes no sense. We are poor people. If you go to ask for mercy from the official, you may not be able to meet him."

Chen Zun grew up at the bottom, so he naturally knew that what the middle-aged woman said was true, and he understood the humility that was engraved in his bones.

If this situation continues, once the people have no way out, an uprising will break out in the Qi Dynasty.

After all, the common people are the ones who are most easily bullied, but they also have a bottom line. Once they can't survive, they will die anyway, then the only way to go is rebellion.