In Pingliang County, Liaonan Prefecture, the county magistrate would never have imagined that his trusted advisor had not fled at all, but had remained in the county town.
After a few days, when the wind had died down, he quietly slipped away with a merchant caravan.
Meanwhile, the busy constables on the street had no time to investigate this matter. They were occupied with other things.
"Officers, what is the matter this time?"
From a shop, the owner, with a dejected face, stepped forward.
Last month, these damned constables had already visited, issued some so-called invoices, rudely tallied the shop's income, and then demanded the collection of some business tax, siphoning off sixty percent of the shop's profits, which truly pained the owner.
However, at least forty percent of the profit remained, which was enough to sustain the business. He never expected the constables to show up again this month.
In previous years, the constables would only appear once a year to arrest fugitives throughout the city and would never visit shops.
"Stop the nonsense. Bring out the invoice copies and the account books. It's time to pay taxes!"
A constable shoved him aside and led his men directly into the shop, looking around.
"Ah? Pay taxes? But officers, didn't we just pay last month's business tax not long ago? This month isn't even over yet?" the owner said with a bitter expression.
The constable, with a stern face and no expression, said, "You did pay business tax last month, but last month the court introduced something called an 'opening tax.' All shops that are open for business must pay at least one tael of silver each month!"
"This, this, this, what new tax is this? Isn't this part of the New Three Laws? Didn't they say there were only three laws?"
The owner was unhappy and very angry.
"Of course, it's part of the New Three Laws. These New Three Laws are just three broad categories: agriculture, commerce, and miscellaneous. These smaller taxes are also included within the New Three Laws."
The constable casually explained and bluffed, showing impatience. He berated, "You wouldn't understand even if I told you. In short, if the court demands taxes from you, just pay them honestly. Otherwise, the knife in my hand is not as friendly as I am."
Saying this, he actually drew his saber, scaring the color out of the owner's face.
He hurried to the counter, took out the invoices and their copies made by the Ministry of Revenue of Pingliang County, and then took out the account books, handing them all to the constables.
The leading constable flipped through them, checked the total amount, and after reviewing it, threw it back to the owner, then asked, "Checked. No issues. Where is the tax silver?"
"Coming right up, coming right up."
The owner, with a fearful glance at the knife in his hand, tremblingly took out the silver and brought a scale. Just as he was about to weigh it, the leading constable knocked the scale over.
"Damn it, what are you weighing for, dawdling!"
With a displeased snort, the leading constable pocketed the silver, then casually took out a slip of paper, wrote an incredibly ugly signature on it, and threw it to the owner.
"Here, this is the receipt for the opening tax. Don't lose it, or you'll have to pay again."
After saying that, he put away his saber and waved his hand, "Let's go, brothers."
"Hey, officers, that's more than one tael, officers!"
The owner shouted, but the constables ignored him, acting as if they hadn't heard.
"Damn it, they extort over a tael for one tael! This isn't paying taxes! These aren't constables! This is outright robbery! A bunch of bandits!"
The owner muttered curses under his breath, very angry but helpless. Who told him he had no connections in the city to do business?
"Old man! Pay the tax!"
"Officers, this old man only sells country mats and shoes, they're not worth much. Where would I get the money to pay taxes!"
"Officers, please be merciful, ah?"
The old man, hunched over, begged and pleaded.
But the constables had just come from a small cloth shop and their mission was not yet complete. They didn't care about these things.
"Damn it! According to the New Three Laws of the court, all merchants, big or small, must pay taxes! Even if you set up a stall to sell mats, it's considered doing business! Or do you want to defy the court?"
Saying this, the leading constable drew his saber again. The four followers behind him did the same.
The sound of drawing sabers startled the common people on the street, who quickly dodged to the sides, not daring to approach.
"This old man would never dare, never dare."
"If you don't dare, then hurry up and hand over the silver! Or I'll cut you!"
"This, this old man has no silver, no silver!"
Faced with the leading constable's threat, the old man burst into tears.
"Hmph, search him!"
"Yes, chief!"
The leading constable gave an order, and the four behind him grinned and stepped forward, holding their sabers to his neck. Two of them grabbed his armpits, forcing him to stand, and then began to search him.
They searched his pockets, his cloth bags, and the soles of his straw shoes, only to find two copper coins.
"Damn it, with only two copper coins, what kind of business are you doing? Get lost!"
Seeing the two copper coins, the leading constable became enraged. He kicked the old man over and then led the others to the next stall.
"Alas, what is this world coming to!"
"Indeed. In this day and age, they're levying a stall tax, and it's one tael of silver. If one had that much money, who would bother setting up a stall?"
"It's not just that. Last month, every shop paid sixty percent of its profits, and it's said that this month there's also an opening tax and a poll tax. These aren't just for shop owners; even villagers who come to the city to set up small stalls have to pay."
"Exactly. And I also heard that small landlords outside the city have to pay taxes on stored grain, land taxes, grain taxes, surveying taxes, and so on. They say these are all taxes under the New Three Laws."
"Why is the court suddenly imposing so many taxes? There's no foreign invasion, so why are they acting like this!"
"Who knows? In short, these New Three Laws are now a name that strikes fear into people's hearts in this county town! It's said that even the powerful families in the city have to pay."
"How can this be? With such heavy taxes, how are we supposed to live!"
A group of commoners, in twos and threes, whispered and sighed, their words filled with dissatisfaction towards the court's reforms and the New Three Laws.
But they failed to notice that in this county town, scholars, especially the impoverished ones, were nowhere to be seen, unlike in the past.
So, where did these literate, impoverished scholars go? Of course, they were languishing in the county jail. Why? Because they were literate! Because they could understand the New Three Laws posted on the official notices from the court. Therefore, they had to be guilty and imprisoned!
What the common people did not know was that the powerful families, large landlords, and wealthy gentry, when they "paid taxes," it was merely a notation on a ledger, and not a single cent of silver was actually paid.
It was the small merchants, small landlords, self-sufficient farmers, and ordinary people without connections who were targeted by the Pingliang County magistrate.
With the impoverished scholars in jail, no one was there to explain the true New Three Laws to them, leading to the New Policies being executed twofold, ten times over, exaggeratedly, and forcefully!
In an instant, resentment surged throughout Pingliang County. Those who secretly disapproved of the court's reforms and the New Three Laws were numerous, like a powder keg, just waiting to be ignited and explode.