"So there was no anti-evil tax before?" Xia Fan asked.
"Yes, this is something that was added after Mr. Hu took office. He said that the evil spirits were becoming more and more frequent and it was difficult to cope with the allocations from above, so he asked the county people to share the points. My benefactor, can you talk to the big shots above? Really? We really can’t afford the money..."
At the end of the sentence, the old man stood up tremblingly, holding on to the door frame, as if he wanted to kneel down. Xia Fan quickly stood up and supported him.
"I will find a way, you don't have to rush. By the way, when did the magistrate take office?"
"I remember it was... ten years ago."
Ten years and eight years...are not that far apart, and with the subsequent evil tax, could this be some kind of coincidence
Wait a moment! A flash of lightning suddenly flashed in Xia Fan's head. If this guess is followed, then the stable life of the previous ten years would be...
He picked up the bowl and took a sip of cold well water to make his voice sound less dry, "Do you remember how many magistrates there have been in Gaoshan County?"
"This..." the old man hesitated, "I don't know about my father's generation, but in the past few decades, there should be four or five. The shortest is three or four years, the long is more than ten years."
"How long has Mr. Hu's previous magistrate been there?"
"It's quite long, about fifteen or six years."
Fifteen or sixteen years, wouldn't this perfectly match the frequency of evil spirits appearing
Xia Fan suddenly felt a chill on his back.
He had always wanted to find clues from unusual cases or disappearances, but now he realized that the clues might be right in front of him.
"By the way, do you still remember the name of the county magistrate? Was he promoted and transferred, or..."
"Back to my benefactor, that gentleman's surname is Zhu and he has passed away."
"How did you die?" Xia Fan asked subconsciously.
"I heard that he was entangled in unclean things and eventually died of illness."
…
When the sky was turned a blood-like orange-red by the afterglow, Xia Fan returned to the inn.
In order to avoid omissions and wrong information, he deliberately visited several more households that had received subsidies.
The answers received were basically the same.
There is a strange correspondence between the frequency of evil spirits and the replacement time of local officials.
After settling down the fox demon first, Xia Fan summoned the other companions into a side room and explained everything he had learned from beginning to end.
After hearing the last narrative, Wei Wushuang took a breath and his eyes widened in disbelief, "Do you suspect that Magistrate Hu is related to this matter?"
"It's just speculation at this point, and I'd like to hear everyone's opinions."
"But there really haven't been any big problems in the county—"
"The problem is that no major problems have occurred," Wang Renzhi interrupted Wei Wushuang, "If you want to make more than a dozen lives disappear quietly, it is indeed more convenient to have official cover."
"Where did Keren come from?"
"Brought from outside!"
"Ah?" Wei Wushuang didn't expect the other party to answer like this, and couldn't help but paused for a moment, "What is the magistrate trying to do..."
"He's trying to make money! Isn't there a tax to eliminate evil? I think he just wants to make money from this!" Wang Renzhi patted Xia Fan on the shoulder with appreciation, "Oh, you are quite brave, I was wrong before I count on you."
"But... it's actually not much money." Wei Wushuang whispered.
"What? Not much?" Young Master Wang raised his eyebrows.
"While listening to Brother Xia just now, I made some calculations in my mind. The evil spirits tax is only collected from the neighbors who have been attacked by evil spirits. It is ten taels of silver per household, and there are only about 300 households in one block. Moreover, the land sales can be discounted. The magistrate's land cultivation is exempted from payment, and it would be good if three hundred households can receive two thousand taels. In addition, he will also distribute this money to the families of the deceased, and each person who dies will receive thirty-five taels. In addition to the hard work fees of the guards and policemen, the county magistrate can probably keep this amount with this package-" Wei Wushuang held out a finger.
"one thousand?"
"Absolutely, and this is already a high estimate."
"Is that all there is?"
"Of course, you can't say that one thousand taels of cash is a small amount -" Wei Wushuang glanced at Xia Fan secretly, "It's just that compared to what we have to do, it's obviously not very cost-effective."
"What if he wasn't doing it for money?" Shangguan Cai said suddenly.
"What else?"
"If you just want money, it is unreasonable to charge taxes uniformly. Instead of setting up so many tax exemptions, it is better to expand the scope of sharing and collect more from wealthy families." She pulled out half of the spear and lightly scratched it on the ground, "He The purpose of setting this line is to push those who are strapped for cash into a desperate situation without affecting the majority of the county.”
"You mean... fields?" Wei Wushuang reacted quickly.
"That's not accurate. He wants both fields and people, or in other words, he wants the food produced in the fields." Shangguan Cai raised the corner of his mouth slightly, "You may not know that a locust plague occurred in Fengguo last year, affecting several states in the west. , everything that can be eaten has been sold at sky-high prices, and it has not completely subsided this year, so much so that riots broke out in many places. Similar things also happened seven or eight years ago."
"Where did you hear this news?" Wei Wushuang said in surprise. His family was a food seller and he didn't know anything about it.
"There is always no shortage of well-informed people in Gyeonggi, provided you can find them." She spread her hands, "Of course, if you want to resell food at this time, you are asking for death. People like yours are allowed by the government, do you know? There is no difference. The only things that can be sold at high prices are private grains that have not been counted, and they have to be transported to Fengguo. A small magistrate is probably just a partner. "
"I think those two might not be the main motivations."
Xia Fan spoke slowly after listening to everyone's speech.
"What's your opinion?" Shangguan Cai asked with interest.
"Gao Jian doesn't count. It's just that the county magistrate more than 20 years ago did not mention an evil tax, and locust plagues cannot happen every year." Xia Fan looked around at everyone, "But evil incidents still occurred frequently at that time, so we might as well Keep things simple.”
"Simple means..."
"Someone instigated, bribed or needed the magistrate to do this, which already includes risk compensation. Compared with his predecessor, the only difference between Magistrate Hu and his predecessor is that the former is more greedy."
His summary caused a brief silence in the room.
"That...Brother Xia," Wei Wushuang cleared his throat after a moment, "After all, it is just everyone's guess. Without actual evidence, no one will believe us. If we say it, it will slander the imperial court. The suspicion of officials.”
"Yes, but at least we have a direction for further investigation." Xia Fan stood up, "The next step is to find the other party's flaws!"
"You already have an idea?"
"That's right," he decided to fight quickly and not give the opponent a chance to calmly respond. "We will know the result in one day tomorrow."