Thief Emperor

Chapter 39 I am both black and white!
The county magistrate is the second master of the county government.

The Dutou was just a clerk, not even an official. Theoretically, County Magistrate Tian had the power to order Li Dadutou to do his work.

However, theory is just theory.

Mr. Li is not bound by the framework of the imperial court or the county government.

Without even a second's hesitation, he went straight to Magistrate Xue.

In Master Xue's study, Li Dadutou smiled and clasped his fists, saying, "County Master."

Magistrate Xue put down the brush in his hand and sighed: "What's the matter?"

For ordinary captains, such as the former captain who had been driven out of Qingyang by the county magistrate, it was not easy to meet the county magistrate on a normal day.

And this new chief...

Mr. Xue was also helpless, but he had to meet him.

After all, this person is his family's "benefactor" and at the same time, his most important lifeline.

Li Yun sat opposite Master Xue and said with a smile, "Nothing else, County Magistrate Tian just came to see me."

Li Dadutou briefly explained the matter and then said, "Your Excellency, I am a kind-hearted person and I cannot bear to whip the common people. You should ask Tian Xiancheng to do it and let someone else do it."

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Xue was silent for a while before he sighed, "He has no other choice."

"Although Qingyang is not big, we were able to collect taxes and grain in the past. However, the imperial court has been increasing taxes year after year in recent years, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to collect taxes."

"There are disturbances in several of the following townships."

"There is no other way except to use the yamen runners."

He looked at Li Yun and said in a deep voice, "You are a man of the underworld. It is understandable that you are unwilling to do this. This county will not make it difficult for you, but the yamen runners still need to be transferred. You can transfer your subordinates to County Magistrate Tian."

Li Yun raised his eyebrows: "How much money does the court want to collect?"

"This time, each household will be charged an additional 500 coins."

Hearing this, Li Yun couldn't help but frowned: "So many?"

You should know that these five hundred coins do not mean that this is the only amount collected in a year, but an additional five hundred coins. For families with better off, five hundred coins are nothing, but for many families on the verge of food and clothing, five hundred coins can cost them their lives!

Magistrate Xue said, "I don't know exactly how much the court has collected, but the state has issued a tax of 500 coins per household."

Village leader Li understood.

Not only the imperial court wanted to collect money, but the local officials who went through various levels of processing also wanted to take some advantage.

And... maybe the local officials take the lion's share.

Chief Li looked at Magistrate Xue and said, "So, the county magistrate has shown his conscience by not adding any more money."

"More money?"

Magistrate Xue snorted, "If we add more money, I'm afraid it will provoke a civil uprising."

"In recent years, it is not uncommon for rebels to attack the county government office and kill the county magistrates in rebellion."

Li Yun frowned slightly.

He originally didn't want to get involved in this matter. The county government's collection of taxes was its business and had nothing to do with him.

However, after hearing that things had come to this, Li Dadutou thought for a while and said, "County Master, if we continue to collect them like this, I'm afraid that the number of bandits in Qingyang will increase."

Originally, as a bandit, whether Qingyang County was in chaos or not had nothing to do with him.

However, at the moment, his official identity is still very useful and can help him expand his power quickly. Besides, he is not the original Li Mazi after all, so he cannot bear to see Qingyang fall into chaos now.

"What can this old man do?"

Magistrate Xue looked at Li Yun and sighed, "Do you think I want to take it?"

"Five hundred coins per household."

Li Dadutou smiled and said, "We in Qingyang have only about 10,000 households, so it's only 5,000 strings of cash."

In this era, the population density was very low. It was considered good if a county had tens of thousands of people. Qingyang only had about 10,000 households.

Mr. Xue looked strange: "Can you take out five thousand strings of cash?"

Li Yun shook his head: "This time, we defeated Black Crow Mountain and earned nearly 100 strings of cash. I have already handed it over to the county government. I don't have much money left, but I have an idea."

He asked, "Your Excellency, how long do you want to collect this tax?"

"Three months."

Magistrate Xue said in a deep voice: "At this moment, a month has passed."

Li Yun nodded slightly, thought for a while, and then said: "County Lord, perhaps we can ask the wealthy families to donate some money to suppress the bandits." Master Xue sneered: "After all, you are still a man of the world. You think everyone is willing to pay like Gu Da. If the Gu family hadn't suffered a big loss, how could they be willing to pay?"

Li Yun smiled and said, "County Master, the tax collection can be put aside for the time being. I will take my two brothers out of the city in the next few days to get information about the thieves."

"Maybe the wealthy family will suddenly feel guilty."

………………

A few days later, Li Dadutou left Qingyang with Zhang Hu and the skinny guy Li Zheng.

The difference from before was that all three of them were riding horses this time.

Li Dadu's horse was for official use, while the other two of them bought a horse with their own money.

After leaving Qingyang County, Zhang Hu let out a strange cry and laughed loudly.

"Second brother, it's better to be outside. It's so boring to be a nobody in this city!"

Li Zheng at the side also laughed and said, "It's not very pleasant, but the only good thing is that the mosquitoes are much better than those in our mountains."

He paused, then said, "The food tastes better too."

Li Yun glanced at the two of them, then looked at Li Zheng and asked, "Did you find anything out from the businesses in the city I asked you to keep an eye on these few days?"

The skinny monkey nodded and said, "Most of the goods are imported from other places, and the largest grain store is owned by Mr. Zheng's family."

"His family is a big landowner in Qingyang."

"I know him."

Li touched his chin and said with a smile: "When I first arrived in Qingyang, I dealt with him. He brought a few farmhands with him and fought with me."

Li Zheng blinked and asked, "Why did Second Brother suddenly start asking about these wealthy families?"

"How long has it been since we last worked in Cangshan Village?"

Li Zheng was stunned for a moment, then replied, "Since...since my second brother robbed my wife last time, I haven't worked again. Didn't my second brother say that the situation outside is tense and I can't work for the time being?"

"That was before."

Mr. Li narrowed his eyes and said with a smile: "Now, aren't we just rumors? How can it be tight or not?"

"go!"

Li Dazhaizhu shook the reins and said with a smile: "Let's go back to Cangshan and discuss how to deal with them!"

…………

In the Cangshan stronghold, the great leader Li sat in the main seat in the main hall.

He looked at the men sitting as his subordinates.

At this moment, the second in command, Yuan Zhengming, has retreated to the second line and no longer participates in the meeting.

But the third in command Zhou Liang is still there.

Village Chief Li cleared his throat and said, "Listen carefully, I'm going to go down the mountain to do some work."

"For these few operations, Shouhou has been keeping watch for a while now. Let's stick to the old rules and send someone to keep watch for a few days, then find the right opportunity to take action."

"You have something to say first."

Village Chief Li glanced at the crowd and said, "I don't think there's much cash or treasure from these few trips. Most of them are goods."

Zhou Liang frowned and said, "Second...Village Master, what can we do without cash? We are not one of those big villages. We don't even have a way to sell our goods."

"If we can't sell the stolen goods, we can move them to the mountains and store them. One of these trips brought us food, which is just right for us to add some food to our village."

"It's not like there's no money in the village, and we're not that short of cash. Anyway..."

He patted the table and said in a deep voice: "I am the village chief, I say how to do it, so you have to do it the fucking way!"

He looked at everyone: "Who is in favor, who is against?"

At this moment, most of the people sitting on the chairs in Cangshan Dazhai are young people.

No one would oppose Li Yun.

Everyone cheered in unison.

Zhou Liang, the third in command, did not say anything else, but just sighed silently.

He knew that his generation...

It finally came to an end.

(End of this chapter)