Ming Taizi's Total War

Chapter 94 The Head of the Steward of the Shen Family and the Pendant of the Tax Card

In the eyes of ordinary people, the disaster of killing the old man and ruining the family is just a matter of one sentence in front of Master Shen.

Even causing other people's families to be ruined is nothing more than the time for Master Fei Shen to write a letter and deliver it to the Yamen of the prefect of Zhenjiang.

Hearing Master Shen's name, Xu Ruogu didn't take it seriously. He thought to himself, no matter what kind of master you are, your grandfather, I am the chief banner of the standard bearer guard, and I am also the chief tax officer of the Lijin Bureau.

Xu Ruogu immediately wanted Shui Ding to beat the housekeeper of the Shen family with a stick, but just as Xu Ruogu was about to issue an order, Wang Kuai stopped him.

"Master Tax, don't act rashly. Mr. Shen is a well-known master of the Zhenjiang Mansion. He has a lot of connections. If you beat his family, I'm afraid you will have no good fruit to eat."

Unlike Xu Ruogu, Wang Kuai is a native of Zhenjiang Mansion, and he is very clear about the local forces, so he naturally knows how powerful Master Shen is.

Youdao is the magistrate who confiscated the family, and the magistrate who killed the family. Although Mr. Shen is not an official, he does not know how many prefects and magistrates. In addition, the family has a huge power and is deeply rooted in Zhenjiang Prefecture. It can be said that it is one of the top local snakes in Zhenjiang Prefecture.

"What are you afraid of? I am ordered by the emperor to go to Zhenjiang to manage the tax card and collect lijin. I do all this for the emperor and on behalf of the emperor. What can Master Shen do to me?"

With Zhu Cihong as his backing, Xu Ruogu was very confident. He didn't believe that a local snake would deal with him for the sake of a little housekeeper.

Unexpectedly, after hearing Xu Ruogu's words, the housekeeper of the Shen family patted his stomach and laughed loudly, saying, "You alone dare to collect our taxes."

"To tell you the truth, I'm afraid you don't know how the tax supervisor died during the Wanli period. I think you want to be buried with them."

The steward of the Shen family knew that although the whole world was nominally a royal land, sometimes it was not sure whether the words of the emperor or the words of a gentleman like Mr. Shen mattered.

He knew that the tax inspectors who came to collect taxes on behalf of the emperor in the past were all killed by gentry like Master Shen, so he was not afraid of Xu Ruogu at all, but felt that he was a fool who came to die.

"Hmph, I'm different from those eunuchs."

"Taxer, go up and control them. Wang Kuai, bring your subordinates and handymen to count the value of the goods for me." Xu Ruogu made up his mind to force them to pay taxes.

Each tax card is assigned to a tax collector from the general banner, that is, fifty people, and there are also dozens of handymen in varying numbers. Their number is much larger than that of the Shen family's caravan, so the merchants are treated as soon as they come up. The team surrounded him.

Seeing the caravan guards and grooms behind him panicking, the steward of the Shen family hurriedly steadied them.

"Don't panic, pull out the knife for me, they are not allowed to touch Master Shen's goods."

But at the same time he said these words, Xu Ruogu also stood up from the chair. With a sudden stride, he rushed to the front of the Shen family housekeeper, and then kicked him in the lower abdomen, causing him to Fell to the ground.

"Aiyo, aiyo." The housekeeper of the Shen family yelled out in pain as he lay on the ground.

"It is the court's system to collect lijin. Those who dare to disobey will be regarded as treason and will be killed without mercy."

Xu Ruogu still remembered what the emperor said to them before they left.

Zhu Cilang summoned Xu Ruogu and the others to the small school grounds, and said, "Lijin is the emperor's money, whoever dares not to hand it over is rebelling against the emperor, opposing the court, and killing without mercy."

"Lijin is collected for the Son of Heaven. One point cannot be less, nor can it be more. If there is one point less, or one point more, either your heads will be lost, or their heads will be lost."

These words gave Xu Ruogu a lot of confidence. He thought, since the emperor said so, there was nothing to be afraid of.

But just after Xu Ruogu finished saying this, an accident happened. The housekeeper of the Shen family pulled out a dagger from his waist, and then threw himself on Xu Ruogu madly, saying, "Son of a bitch, I I want your life."

Xu Ruogu was a scholar, he had only joined the army for 20 days, his training time was even shorter, and he had almost no martial arts skills. He was at a loss when he suddenly encountered the Shen family's housekeeper going crazy.

Fortunately, Shui Ding on the side held the hands and feet of the housekeeper of the Shen family, so that Xu Ruogu was able to avoid the accident and was not stabbed by the dagger.

"You dare to kill me." Xu Ruogu stared at the Shen family butler in front of him and said.

In the next second, he pulled out his waist knife and stabbed the Shen family steward in the stomach. Seeing that the Shen family steward was still struggling, he frantically stabbed him several times until the blood splashed on his eyeballs, which Xu Ruogu saw. The world turned red before he stopped.

"The Shen family caravan rebelled, kill all the guards and grooms, and confiscate the goods." After Xu Ruogu killed the Shen family steward, he immediately ordered his subordinates to kill all the people in the caravan.

Anyway, he had already killed the steward of the Shen family, and the matter was irreversible, so he might as well kill all the people in the caravan.

"Didn't you hear what I said? Kill them all." Xu Ruogu reiterated when he saw that Shui Ding and the servants were shocked by his order.

"Xu Ruogu, you are confused." Wang Kuai heard Xu Ruogu's order and hurried to his side.

"Kill them, I'm afraid our entire tax card will be buried with you." Wang Kuai seemed to have seen the scene where Master Shen was furious and ordered the magistrate to arrest and kill them all.

Xu Ruogu ignored Wang Kuai, but cut off the head of the Shen family steward with a waist knife, thinking, what do you know, no matter how powerful the Shen family master is, he can surpass the emperor. I work for the emperor, who can say anything about me? no.

It's just right to kill them, it can deter others, so that the people behind will definitely pay taxes honestly when they come over.

After killing the Shen family's caravan, Xu Ruogu hung the head of the Shen family's housekeeper on the flagpole of the tax card to warn the passing caravans to pay taxes honestly.

As for the guards and grooms, they were hastily buried, and Xu Ruogu sent someone to notify the governor of Zhenjiang to pick up the carriage and goods.

With the demise of the Shen family caravan as a lesson for the past, other caravans never refused to pay taxes because of their special status.

As for ordinary businessmen without backing, they took the initiative to give gifts to Xu Ruogu, trying to curry favor with him, hoping that they would pay less tax in the future.

In this regard, Xu Ruogu lived up to Zhu Cihuang's expectations, he flatly rejected those businessmen who wanted to curry favor with him, and said that it was impossible for him to break the rules.

The businessmen were not angry when they saw him like this, but were very happy. Without him, there were too few officials in Ming Dynasty who followed the rules, and most of them directly ignored the rules and even the law.

There are only some people who are unhappy, and that is Mr. Shen and others. They have accumulated countless wealth by relying on the gentry's tax-free privileges. Now that Lijin is snatching food from their mouths, they are naturally unhappy.

(End of this chapter)