CHAPTER 76: CHAPTER 76: DELIVERING THE GRAIN TAX

It’s already late September, the last few days of the autumn tiger. A dozen constables are driving ox carts, each covered with a canopy to prevent sudden rain from wetting the grain.

The constables were spotted by those working before entering the village, and no one dared to delay. Those who called for the village chief went to find him, and those who led the way did so. Almost everyone quickly returned home.

Jiang Hu also took his wife and children home and tidied up the house briefly.

When the constables collect the grain tax, they will inspect the house all over to see if there is any grain hidden away.

Of course, anyone with common sense wouldn’t do such a thing, for if they are found hiding grain, they would have to pay fifty percent grain tax for the next three years!

Paying the grain tax is something everyone except Xiaomi has experienced before, so there is no sense of nervousness. As long as the constables weigh all the grain in the house and set aside the portion for the tax, it’s fine.

Yet Tie Dan knows nothing and just knows he has returned home to play, joyous~

Only Xiaomi has never seen such a thing, eagerly looking in the village’s direction, imagining what the grain tax collection scene is like.

However, Xiaomi’s curious expression was misunderstood by Second Aunt.

"Xiaomi, don’t be afraid, the government officer will leave after collecting the grain, and they won’t collect excessively. We have plenty of grain at home, don’t be afraid."

Second Aunt thought Xiaomi was afraid the family would run out of grain.

Xiaomi shook her head: "I’m not afraid."

It’s only thirty percent, and there will be more than a thousand pounds of corn left.

The sorghum yield is a bit lower, only two to three hundred pounds per acre. That heavy rain caused quite some loss, and their family harvested only about a thousand pounds of sorghum from five acres.

With such calculations, even after paying the grain tax, there will still be nearly two thousand pounds of grain left!

Thinking about having so much grain, one can’t help but feel at ease, right?

The dozen constables, of course, don’t collect from each household individually. They took the name list from the village chief and split into several directions to act separately.

So, shortly, Xiaomi saw four people dressed in uniform, with weapon-like sticks at their waists.

She originally thought, as in the TV dramas, each constable would be equipped with a large knife, but soon realized that TV is TV, and there are only a few actors in a drama.

With the number of imperial constables presumably reaching tens of thousands, if each had a knife, just consider how much iron that would require.

Iron, this thing, is rare and considered a strategic resource.

The four drove an ox cart, which had a very large balance scale on it.

Upon entering the yard, the leader of the group held a piece of paper: "Jiang Hu’s household, right?"

Jiang Hu nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, that’s us. Officers, you must be thirsty in this hot weather, have some water first."

While speaking, he handed over a small bundle: "Fu’an Village is quite far, troubling you all to come from afar; here’s a small token for when you return to the town, you can have a drink and rest."

The leader weighed the bundle, which jingled, at least a dozen copper coins, and a few smiles appeared on his face.

"Appreciate the kindness, but this is just part of our work, not terribly difficult."

Second Aunt had already prepared a few bowls of chrysanthemum tea, and Jiang Hu handed each of them a bowl. Possibly due to the copper coins, compared to their initial stern demeanor upon entering the yard, the four had become much more amiable.

They might have truly been thirsty, or perhaps the chrysanthemum tea tasted good. All four constables finished the tea before patting their clothes to stand.

"We’ve had tea and rested enough, Brother Jiang, let’s proceed with our business."

"Alright, all the grain is here. There was heavy rain a few days ago, and the sorghum suffered some losses, so it might be a little less."

Jiang Hu didn’t hesitate, directly leading the constables to the room where the grain was stored.

Seeing bags upon bags of sorghum and corn, the constables were startled: "Whoa, so much?"

They then looked at the piece of paper in their hand: "Does your household really have just three and a half acres of corn and three acres of sorghum?"

They had already visited other villages, six acres couldn’t yield so much grain.

Especially Fuan Village, being the land cleared by refugees, would have even poorer yields!

Jiang Hu chuckled: "This year we were lucky, the harvest was good. Oh, there are over ten pounds here, I chose a few good corns for seeds, should these be weighed too?"

In principle, it should be done, with over ten corns, they would owe three pounds.

However, the lead constable waved: "No need to be too particular, just these. Brother, lend a hand, let’s finish up so you can tend to other tasks."

Perhaps Jiang Hu’s candidness caused the constables to forego checking other rooms to see if Jiang Hu had hidden anything.

The weighing revealed a surprise, with nearly three thousand pounds of corn and sorghum together!

After calculating the grain tax and loading it onto the ox cart, there were still over seventeen hundred pounds of grain left!

"Brother Jiang, you have quite a bit of grain; want to sell some? The price is same as the granary’s, no loss to you."

Jiang Hu hesitated a bit, and Second Aunt tugged on his sleeve: "Brother Hu."

They had agreed earlier not to sell any, leaving it for the family to eat.

Xiaomi pressed her chair and ran over: "Papa, sell, sell it!"

After all, so far, nobody has gossiped about exactly how much grain his family has harvested. Selling some and leaving the rest for the family, when asked, just say it was all sold and only kept for eating!

"Xiaomi, why have you come?" Second Aunt hurriedly picked Xiaomi up.

The constables had seen the couple of children in the house before but hadn’t paid attention; now, seeing Xiaomi’s gesture, they were taken aback.

"This child is clever; she’s suggesting you sell some. But if you ask me, Brother Jiang, you have so much grain, you definitely can’t finish eating it all. Leaving it at home might attract unwanted attention, better to sell it."

Second Aunt enticed Xiaomi away, anxiously looking at Jiang Hu, unsure what to say.

Jiang Hu hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth: "Sell, half of the remaining grain will be sold. Just, Brothers, if anyone asks later, could you not mention how much grain we have left?"

This request seemed a bit odd, and the constables exchanged a glance, not understanding Jiang Hu’s intention.

Not needing their understanding, Jiang Hu hurriedly ran into the house, quickly returned, and handed out more copper coins, stuffing five into each constable’s hand.

With this, the constables said nothing more, nodding: "Sure, if anyone asks, we’ll say you sold it all and kept only two to three hundred pounds for consumption."

Jiang Hu immediately breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank you, gentlemen, let’s weigh the grain first, sell half of the remaining!"

Even selling half, there are still eight to nine hundred pounds left, enough for the family to eat for a year or two. Moreover, in another month, they’ll be sowing wheat, there’s indeed no concern about the grain situation!