Start practicing archery

Chapter 5 Forced
Outside the door were two officials.

One of them held a book and the other held a long whip.

Tax officer.

Without having to think, you know what the other party is here for.

Chen Sanshi said politely: "My Lords, give me another half month, and I will definitely be able to collect the tax!"

According to regulations in previous years, the deadline for paying taxes should be around twenty days away.

If he works hard, it shouldn't be difficult for him to collect three taels of silver.

The tax collector sneered and said, "Now the barbarians in the north are constantly invading, and there are bandits in the south. The Great Sheng Dynasty needs your gratitude and contribution. How can you wait so long?"

Chen Sanshi asked, "How long does your Excellency mean?"

"Seven days!"

The tax officer held up three fingers and said, "Within seven days, anyone who fails to pay the tax will be exiled to Hezhou to build the canal!"

After saying this, the two clerks turned around and left, knocking hard on the door of the next household that had not paid taxes yet, as if they were announcing a death. If they met someone with a bad attitude, they would give him two whippings.

“Why are taxes collected so much in advance?”

"It must be related to the war."

Yanbian Village, Poyang County, where Chen Sanshi is located, is already located on the northern border of the Dasheng Dynasty. Further north are the garrisons and the Great Wall, and outside the Great Wall are the barbarians.

In the past decade, barbarian invasions have become more frequent. There have even been cases where a small group of barbarian cavalry broke into the country, looted an entire village, and then left in style.

The situation was not stabilized until the imperial court sent an elite army to garrison the area three years ago, but small-scale conflicts near the Great Wall have never stopped.

Not only the north, but the south as well is not at peace.

Chen Sanshi was not well-informed, but he knew that there were constant uprisings in the South. Although they were suppressed after a short period of time, there would always be new people who would rise up.

"Seven days!"

"What's the point of urging us so hard? Can the common people turn out silver and grain?"

As a modern person with basic historical knowledge, he knew that this was the end of the dynasty, chaos was coming, and the people would become increasingly miserable.

"Brother Shi, what's wrong?"

Gu Xinlan in the room asked about the situation worriedly.

"fine."

Chen Sanshi didn't want to cause any more trouble, so he pretended nothing had happened. He practiced archery, had breakfast, and then went out with some dry food and a bow on his back, as usual.

Since he has come to the bottom of the troubled times, he can only follow the rules and find a way to survive.

It is not an easy task to collect three taels of silver in seven days.

Chen Sanshi was under a lot of pressure.

Not only him, but all the villagers were complaining.

When he was about to walk out of the village, he saw a few familiar figures. He frowned and wanted to avoid them.

"small stone."

Qin Xiong led two ruffians and surrounded them: "Why are you hiding from me?"

Chen Sanshi could not guess that the other party was planning to take advantage of the situation.

He said bluntly: "Brother Qin, if it's still the same thing as last time, there's no need to talk about it anymore."

"Have you forgotten what the tax collector said? If you don't collect enough silver, you will be arrested and forced to build the canal."

Qin Xiong pretended to be a good guy and said sympathetically, "I have never heard of anyone who has been involved in this kind of job coming back alive. How about you take a loss and give me the young lady you have hidden at home? I will pay the tax for you. How about that?"

"If I'm really caught to build the canal, I'll just take it as my bad luck and don't bother Brother Qin."

Chen Sanshi said this expressionlessly and was about to leave.

After learning the art of archery, he became confident in his strength and spoke with a lot more confidence.

However, there is no need for a head-on conflict yet.

First of all, Qin Xiong has a lot of ruffians under his command.

Secondly, this guy has a younger brother who practices martial arts and is said to be very powerful and not easy to mess with.

Qin Xiong didn't stop him, but just let him go away with a cold face.

"Brother, if it were you, I would just rob him. Why would you even bother paying him money?"

A scoundrel said with curses.

"idiot!"

Qin Xiong slapped him on the head and said, "Do you think there is really no law in the Great Sheng Dynasty?"

Things like robbing women used to happen from time to time, but since the new Liangzhou governor came, no one dared to do so again. "What should we do?"

The scoundrel asked, "Isn't the eldest brother still waiting to use that woman as a gift for the second brother?"

"What a rush! Can he really gather three taels of silver so quickly?"

Qin Xiong snorted coldly and said disdainfully: "When the time comes, he will be pulled to repair the canal and he won't have to spend a penny!"

……

"Three taels of silver within seven days."

"It seems that I must get the big one."

"After we settle the tax issue, we'll figure out how to deal with Qin."

It was still early when Chen Sanshi arrived at Hutou Mountain. Many large animals only appear at sunset, so he was not in a hurry. He found an open space and started practicing archery.

When he was practicing archery, he no longer felt any difficulty at all. Instead, he felt very comfortable with it.

Not only can he hit the target every time within forty steps, but he can also hit the ten-ring target with more than eighty percent accuracy within fifty steps.

It's just a bit of a waste of arrows.

"Crack!"

Another arrow hit the bull's eye, but the arrow broke immediately afterwards.

Chen Sanshi felt quite distressed.

If you want to buy a new arrow, it will cost at least ten cents!
However, arrows themselves are consumables, and the arrows in his hand are all old, so the loss is normal.

[Skill: Archery (Beginner)]

[Progress: (128/200)]

[Effect: Open the six-force bow, and within forty steps, all arrows will hit the target]

The panel appears.

"If we work hard tomorrow, we should be able to move on to the next stage."

Chen Sanshi ate some dry food to fill his stomach and then started to work.

His facial features were sharp, and he would not miss any tiny traces. It did not take him much effort to find a rabbit near the bushes through the feces.

The arrow hit the target without any suspense and then went into the pocket.

"Is there no bigger prey?"

Chen Sanshi was naturally not satisfied with this.

But even though he had the ability to hide and trace, he didn't find any traces of large animals throughout the afternoon. It was not until the sun went down that he found a pheasant halfway up the mountain by looking at its feathers.

The arrow is like thunder!

The arrow pierced the pheasant's body, and the body flew out due to inertia and got nailed to the tree trunk nearby.

"About four pounds."

"Pheasants are delicious and their price is second only to pork. This one can be sold for around seventy coins."

"But it's still far from enough."

Chen Sanshi is now certain that there are no large prey outside Hutou Mountain.

After all, he has the ability to "hide while searching for traces" and will not let go of any clues. If he can't find them, it means they really don't exist.

【Searching for the missing (beginner)】

【Progress: 101/200】

[Effect: Observe carefully and walk lightly]

"The search for traces and hiding is about to enter the next stage."

"Maybe, I can try to go to the mountains."

The deeper you go, the more prey there are, but it is also more dangerous. Usually only experienced hunters will go there, such as Uncle Zhao and his friends from the same village.

Starting from Erchong Mountain, wild boars, even big insects and black bears will appear, and many hunters die there every year.

Previously, Chen Sanshi had just started hunting, and for safety reasons he did not dare to go deep into the area rashly, but now it seems he has to go.

However, his archery skills will soon be improved, so it might be worth a try.

"Go back and prepare well."

"Let's go to Erchongshan tomorrow!"

(End of this chapter)