Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 255: Use force to strike back at tax resisters, and the powerful are terrified!

Xiong Jia's face turned livid at this time, and his eyes were cold.

He knew that the family of Marquis Funing was deliberately provoking him. If he was just a little bit weak, the new policy of imposing additional customs duties on luxury craft goods at Chongwenmen today would be completely ruined!

"Old Zhu, good job!"

"That's right, don't be afraid of him! At worst, you can take the case to His Majesty. Even if you take the case to His Majesty, don't be afraid. We will all help you!"

Simultaneously.

Other wealthy and powerful families who were also escorting valuable commercial goods also joined in the commotion, praising and instigating the family of Marquis Funing to continue making trouble.

At this time, Shao Qing, a relative of Shao Xizhi, the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and Zhu Houcong's grandmother, spoke up.

The member of the Funing Marquis family with his sleeves half rolled up felt even more proud, with the corner of his mouth crooked as if he was drinking tea from a teapot, and he raised his eyebrows and looked at Xiong Jia.

But who is Xiong Jia?

He was the first person to report Ning Wang's rebellion during the Zhengde reign when whoever attacked Ning Wang would be in trouble! He was also the one who, when ordered to review the Songpan border pay, was not afraid that Deputy General Zhang Jie relied on Jiang Bin's power to accept bribes of tens of thousands and lured and killed thousands of native people. He then led his family to intercept and attack Deputy Envoy Hu Li. He also dared to report the matter and offend Jiang Bin when the local governor and provincial inspector did not dare to speak out. He was also the one who dared to stand up like Zhang Cong and Gui E during the great discussion on rituals and was not afraid of threats from the ritual protection faction!
Otherwise, Zhu Houcong would not have let him manage the taxes at Chongwenmen.

Therefore, Xiong Jia only ordered in a deep voice at this time: "Tax Supervisor!"

Wei Changgui bowed and said he was there.

“This person resists taxes!”

"Tell your men to raise their guns and kill this man immediately!"

Xiong Jia ordered.

"Yes!"

After Wei Changgui agreed, he called a team of firearms and ordered, "Light the ignition cord and aim at the tax resister and his servants!"

So, the team of gunners immediately took out the fire.

The team's firearmsmen were well-trained and lined up in a row, holding up their muskets, which had been pierced with cleaning rods and loaded with fuses. They only waited for the fire brought by the team leader to be distributed, lit their own fuses, and then lit the fuses to fire.

At this time.

The faces of the family members of Funing Marquis Mansion also changed drastically, and they immediately led their caravan to retreat, while shouting to Wei Changgui:
"You military commander, why are you listening to the orders of a civilian official?"

"Aren't you afraid that if you offend our Lord, the Five Military Command will not punish you in the future?"

Wei Changgui did not respond to the family members of Funing Marquis Mansion.

He was a refugee who followed the emperor into the capital, not a former member of the Beijing Guards controlled by the nobles.

Therefore, he had no fear of the nobles and had no idea about the Five Military Commanderies.

Because his superior Zhou Shangwen was also directly under the control of the emperor, not any nobleman; and he had no clan ties, and his family situation was very simple and clean. He only had a younger sister and a wife who had been married for only three years, and the wife was given by the emperor.

In his perception, the emperor's grace was truly as great as the sky. In his perception, the relationship between himself and the emperor was just as the political instructor in the camp said: "If you have no father, the emperor is your father; if you have no family, the country is your family!"

Therefore, Wei Changgui really has a sense of mission to collect money for his father and for his family.

However, the family members of Funing Marquis Mansion did not know and could not understand the thoughts of an orphan like him.

boom!
boom!
boom!
Therefore, Wei Changgui did not stop his men from firing, but instead witnessed with his own eyes the white smoke suddenly appearing in front of the family members of the Funing Marquis' Mansion.

The member of the Funing Marquis's family holding the iron ball fell to the ground on the spot, hit by several bullets in the chest. He began to tremble on the ground and began to spit out blood from his mouth.

The iron ball in this person's hand also rolled into the snow, shining brightly under the sunlight.

At the same time, several servants in Funing Marquis's mansion who were armed with knives and bows were shot and fell to the ground, screaming in the snow.

Because of this, this scene frightened other people in Funing Marquis' Mansion and other caravans.

"Third Master!"

"Brother Zhu!"

The other people in Funing Marquis' Mansion suddenly shouted heart-wrenchingly.

Shao Qing, a member of the family of Shao Xi, a maternal relative, also shouted loudly, and then together with the people from Funing Marquis' Mansion and other members of the caravan, they looked at Xiong Jia with shock and anger.

"Listen!"

Xiong Jia also shouted at this time, and then said in a deep voice: "If you want to enter the city, you must pay according to the new currency tariff regulations, no one is exempt! Anyone who dares to resist taxes will end up like this!"

talking.

Xiong Jia pointed at the third master of the Zhu family of Funing Marquis Mansion who was lying on the ground.

Many powerful and wealthy people shuddered at this.

In essence, they are bullies who only bully the weak and fear the strong. If Xiong Jia were to come at them forcefully, they wouldn't dare to do anything to him, but would become even more afraid of him.

And it is precisely because Xiong Jia has rich experience in struggles and knows the nature of these people that he is fearless, and not because he is really reckless and unkind.

Xu Song, the head of the Ministry of Revenue, was also frightened and naturally did not dare to be negligent. He hurriedly led his men to the caravan of the Funing Marquis' Mansion to check the silks.

Although the people in Funing Marquis' Mansion hated Xiong Jia, they did not dare to provoke him again. Instead, they sent people to pay the customs duties honestly.

"We don't have many silver dollars. Can you pay with gold bars?"

For this reason, the family from Funing Marquis's Mansion who came to pay taxes asked this question cautiously because they did not have enough silver dollars.

Since they never reduce taxes, naturally they won't prepare many silver dollars.

Xiong Jia knew that the wealthy families had been secretly resisting the widespread circulation of silver dollars as legal tender, and often deliberately did not use silver dollars for transactions. At this time, he said in a stern tone:

"The court has repeatedly stressed that silver dollars and copper coins are the legal tender of this dynasty. All other gold, silver, and cloth are not legal tender. You must pay the corresponding taxes to the court. If you do not use legal tender, and the scale exceeds the value of one thousand silver dollars, the fire consumption will be doubled!"

Speaking of it.

Xiong Jia said: "So, it's possible, but you have to pay more for it!"

"Pay it forward, let's pay it!"

The family members of Funing Marquis' Mansion paid the customs duties and breathed a sigh of relief. They were really afraid that Xiong Jia would beat them for this.

"Ugh!"

Upon seeing this, Shao Qing, the maternal relative, could not help but stamp his feet, clapped his hands, and sighed.

Then he came with his caravan and paid the customs duties.

The caravans of other powerful and wealthy people also came to pay taxes, but they all had cold faces and their eyes were full of reluctance.

You have to know that these families have no habit of paying taxes. They have always received money from the court and have never given money to the court.

So, at this time, Xiong Jia used bloody and violent means to force them to pay money, which made them feel uncomfortable as if he was cutting their flesh.

"Guijian, should we collect the vegetables that these small people bring into the city?"

As more and more vendors came into the city, some small vendors began to carry vegetables purchased from nearby farmers into the city to sell.

Xu Song, the director of the Guizhou Division of the Ministry of Revenue, therefore asked about Xiong Jia.

Xiong Jia knew what Xu Song meant, so he frowned:
"Do you want me to recite the regulations to you again? Small vendors who pay less than one silver dollar in currency customs duties are exempted!"

"But if that's the case, few ordinary people will need to pay taxes."

"Although this is certainly beneficial to the people, please forgive me for being so presumptuous. This will inevitably make the people above and below unhappy!"

Xu Song looked at Xiong Jia in confusion and replied.

Because in his opinion, if an official does not make money from the people, he is not a normal official.

"If the people above me are unhappy, they can fire me. If the people below me are unhappy, they can just get out!"

"When we adjusted the currency tariff, we took all the incentives from top to bottom into consideration. What else do we need?"

"If one cannot feel at ease unless he oppresses the common people, then the sages' books are really useless!"

Xiong Jia refuted Xu Song's words and said: "Since I am in charge of implementing the new tax policy, it cannot be implemented arbitrarily in my hands!"

Xu Song had no choice but to remain silent and no longer answer, with a rather strange expression on his face.

But because of this, many small vendors were no longer subject to taxation duties, and even those who needed to pay taxes were no longer exploited additionally.

These small vendors were therefore very happy, and they all lamented that the season had become different since the new emperor ascended the throne.

As a result, many vendors began to lower the prices of their goods in the hope of opening up more markets with their original profit margins.

On this day, the common people in the capital began to notice that the prices of daily necessities such as vegetables, chickens and ducks had dropped slightly.

Some families therefore started buying more eggs and meat, which made the children at home very happy. The greedy little mouths eventually got to eat more meat and eggs, and they felt warmer in this cold winter.

After Xiong Jia ordered the killing of the family members of Funing Marquis' Mansion, the powerful and wealthy forces who entered Chongwenmen did not dare to resist taxes anymore, but they became indignant again after entering the city.

"That traitor Xiong Jia killed the family of Marquis Funing. Is this the end of the matter?"

"Of course, we can't just let this go. He's not only slapping the face of Funing Marquis Mansion, but also slapping the face of all of us!"

Therefore, many powerful and wealthy people began to discuss this issue.

At this time, the young men of Funing Marquis's Mansion knelt down in front of these powerful nobles and gentry, crying and saying sadly: "Uncles, please make a decision for my family! Woo woo!"

The powerful and wealthy naturally comforted them and expressed their willingness to seek justice for the Funing Marquisate.

Shao Qing even said at this time: "That Xiong dares to be so arrogant because he has Zhang Fujing, Wang Qiong and others backing him up. Since we want to report him, why don't we ask our respective family heads to go directly to see His Majesty and report him in front of His Majesty! Ask His Majesty to make the decision for us!"

"That's right, I'll go see His Majesty then!"

Other powerful and wealthy people responded one after another, and returned home to tell their masters how hateful Xiong Jia was.

Changhua Earl Shao Xi and others were furious and came to Donghua Gate in groups.

It can be described as menacing.

Among them, many are royal relatives.

Among the maternal relatives were Zhang Heling, Marquis of Shouning, and Zhang Yanling, Marquis of Jianchang.

Even Zhu Houcong's maternal family, Yutianbo Jiang Lun and others, got involved.

(End of this chapter)