Starting from the Greyhound, seventy-two changes.

Chapter 11 I don’t want to be a beast of burden in this life!

In a dilapidated temple about ten miles away from Dachen Village, this is the gathering place of some of the most famous gangsters in Shilishan Village.

Those who can be called gangsters are those who have no property.

Huang Ba was lying on the half-fallen statue with his legs crossed, exposing his belly.

This man was very strong, like a wild boar, but he had a pair of small eyes.

Someone pulled fleas out of his hair.

"Damn it, this is so weird. It's almost autumn tax time, and the Chen family is still shouldering the burden?"

Huang Ba wondered:
"Does the old lady really want to send her youngest son to perform corvée labor?"

"Brother Ba, do you think it's possible that his dead brother left some money for his family when he got into trouble, so he is so fearless?"

Huang Ba usually hangs out with a few scoundrels. One of them is called Xie Gouzi. He has no property and a skinny body, but he has a lot of bad eyes:

"If this is true, big brother, please report it again and make it impossible for their family to recover."

"Impossible! You are a county yamen runner who only eats for free, how could you not know whether Chen Xinzang has hidden anything?" Huang Ba is a smart man. He lowered his head and thought: "He should be gritting his teeth to bear it."

"What should we do? His family is determined not to sell the house. Should we do something else?" Xie Gouzi thought of this and sucked his teeth.

"I never liked that shabby house. How much is it worth? What I liked was Chen Xin's wife..." Huang Ba's eyes sparkled: "I like other people's wives, especially widows. They have a charm that a virgin girl doesn't have."

"Xu Lan is a pretty girl... She's the type that's both charming and charming..." Xie Gouzi fantasized, but when he noticed that Huang Ba was looking at him with a strange look, he quickly said, "Brother Ba, what do you say we should do?"

Huang Ba couldn't think of a solution for a while, and finally said:

"Keep an eye on their house and find a chance to talk to Chen Ku."

"Who's going to watch?"

"Me, me?"

……

Early the next morning.

Chen Ku got up, thought it over again and again, and decided to visit Zhao Bocai's house.

"Is Brother Zhao at home?" Chen Ku shouted outside the door.

Zhao Bocai came out wearing a coat and opened the door. "Yes, it's Brother Chen Ku. He came in and said it was very cold this morning."

After entering the main room and closing the doors and windows, it did feel a little warmer.

Chen Ku was just about to speak.

But I saw that Zhao Bocai had already turned around and went to another room.

After a while, a quiet quarrel was heard from the room over there. "Zhao Bocai, not to mention that the second son needs money every day, our family has done its best for the Chen family. Do you still want to live with him..."

Chen Ku's expression changed slightly.

Zhao Bocai came out after a while, gave Chen a bitter smile and said, "Don't mind it."

Chen Ku explained, "Brother Zhao misunderstood. I'm not here to borrow money."

Zhao Bocai, however, held a money bag, shook his head and said, "Brother Chen Ku, I heard about Huang Ba's incident. I have prepared a few strings of cash for you. Use it first to pay the autumn tax. The house and the person must not be sold. Your brother and I have a life-long friendship. Before he got into trouble, he told me to take care of him if I could. Besides, you saved my baby. Take it."

Hand over the purse.

Chen Ku stood up from his chair, waved his hand, and said, "I'm really not here to borrow money, but I do have something that I need your help with, big brother. You can take a look at this thing first."

As he said this, he took out the ginseng from the basket.

Zhao Bocai's eyes lit up as he saw it: "Such a big mallet, this, this is worth at least four or five taels of silver, you, you dug it up?"

Seeing Chen Ku take out such a valuable herb, Zhao Bocai knew that Chen Ku was not here to borrow money.

"Well, yes, but... I can't sell this medicine for money." Chen Ku said helplessly.

Zhao Bocai heard this.

He looked at Chen Ku deeply.

He immediately understood what Chen Ku wanted him to do. "Do you want me to collect it from you privately like that dog skin?"

Of course, he was well aware of the heavy taxes and exploitation that herbalists suffered in Yaochai City.

It is clear that if Chen Ku really sells this ginseng worth five taels of silver in the medicine market, he can only get one tael of silver at best.

Can,
To put it nicely, this is called tax evasion; to put it bluntly, it is helping to evade taxes.

The incident can be big or small.

A look of hesitation appeared on Zhao Bocai's face.

Chen Ku stepped forward and said, "I know you are going to take risks, so I will give you 20% of the money from the sale."

Zhao Bocai looked at Chen Ku and said, "Sit down first."

When Chen Ku heard this, he knew that there would be no follow-up. Although he felt helpless, he did not feel too sorry. After all, there was a risk. But what he came to ask for was actually some advice.

really.

Zhao Bocai asked Chen Ku to sit down, then he slowly said: "It's not that I don't want to help you, I'm a hunter, last time I sold the dog skin, no one would suspect anything, but if I help sell herbs, anyone with a discerning eye can see it at a glance, this is not a long-term solution."

Chen Ku sighed and said, "That's right. I didn't think it through."

Zhao Bocai sighed and said, "It's not that you didn't think it through. This is how the world works. It forces people to take some crooked paths, otherwise they won't be able to survive. To tell you the truth, I, your brother Zhao, have done similar things before, but I'm telling you, I can't do this, mainly because my second son is about to be transferred to the county household registration, and I can't let anything go wrong."

Chen Ku stood up and said slowly: "I'm sorry to trouble you."

Zhao Bocai hesitated for a moment.

Finally, he said:
"slow."

Chen Ku was about to carry the basket when he turned to look at Zhao Bocai.

Zhao Bocai hesitated and said:
"I can't help you, but if you just want to avoid being exploited and sell the herbs, I can show you a way."

Chen Ku's eyes flickered slightly, and he quickly cupped his hands: "Please give me some advice, Brother Zhao."

This was his original purpose.

I have no connections because my current status is too low and I can't access many circles and information.

But Brother Zhao was different. He had a very good relationship with his eldest brother and was considered a top hunter in the entire Baojiao County. He could even send his younger brother to practice martial arts.

What he wanted was some guidance from Brother Zhao.

Zhao Bocai took a deep breath and said, "There is light and darkness in the world. There are policies from above and countermeasures from below. The taxes in our Daji Dynasty are so heavy on the people that naturally many shady things have emerged among the people. The most serious ones are smuggling and selling private salt. The less serious ones are... the black market."

"Black market?" Chen Ku immediately understood what these two words meant.

"Yes, Yaochai Market is an officially regulated trading market. Everything must be subject to the heavy taxes stipulated by the court. There is also the exploitation of those yamen runners. Even if you are a registered household, you will be skinned alive after entering Yaochai Market. You know why we have to go to Yaochai Market. Most people are honest and obedient. Even if they are exploited by blood suckers, as long as they can survive, they will never dare to have other ideas. It's just that the pressure is greater."

Zhao Bocai said faintly:

"But those who are brave enough to survive don't care about so many things, so the black market was born. Although there are protection fees and stall fees for trading there, it is only 10% of the exploitation of the medicine market. You can get at least 450 yuan back from the ginseng you bought for five taels of silver in the black market. But the danger is also great. Once caught, the fine will be even higher, and you may even be beheaded. You have to be mentally prepared."

"I know." Chen thought hard for a moment and nodded: "Brother Zhao, just tell me where the black market is. I will be grateful to you."

Next, he needed a lot of money to practice martial arts, buy meat and medicine.

If you go to the medicine and firewood market with five taels of silver, you will be extorted for 70% to 80%. If you can only get 20% to 30%, it all depends on other people's mood.

This kind of exploitative environment meant that even if he worked himself to death and worked like an ox or a horse, and found as many herbs as he could, it would still not be enough to cover his expenses when it came to practicing martial arts, and he could not withstand the consumption. Therefore, he had to overcome this level of exploitation in order to quickly accumulate strength and grow stronger.

No matter in the last life or in this life.

He understands one thing.

If he is honest and down-to-earth, the world will have the most people like him.

As long as you can endure hardship, there will be endless hardship to endure. You are a natural working saint like an ox or a horse.

He has to fight for himself, change his destiny, not be a slave, but be a superior person.

Zhao Bocai said: "The black market is only thirty miles away... On the third, sixth, and ninth days of the lunar calendar, it opens in the early morning and closes before dawn."

(End of this chapter)