The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 730: Winning the People's Hearts

Heyang County, Wuping Township, Cheng'an Village.

Li Kui was standing under a standing tree, holding a big drum and shouting loudly.

Beside him stood three county soldiers, all of whom held their heads high and chests puffed out, looking quite dignified.

Li Nei suddenly became lively, and the people walked towards the standing tree with helpless expressions. Li Kui did this because he obviously had something very important to announce to everyone.

This will delay a lot of their things, and they can only silently hope in their hearts that it won't be delayed too long this time.

When many people gathered together dejectedly, Li Kui was still fiddling with his broken drum and shouting.

About a hundred people gathered in front of him.

These people were all very thin. Looking around, they were all skinny. Many of them had tattered clothes made of several different kinds of cloth, and the clothes were almost stained black by the mud.

Most of them wore short clothes, which made it easier for them to work in the fields. The clothes did not fit them well, and one could even see their sunken stomachs and rows of ribs.

Some carried hoes, while others held children.

Li Kui counted the people in front of him again, and then put down the drum in his hand.

He cleared his throat and said loudly: "Everyone, I went to the village today, and the village head announced a big thing!!"

"I've been ordered to come back and tell you!"

"Listen carefully, everyone! If a superior officer comes to question you one day and you say you don't know, I won't forgive you!"

After hearing Li Kui's words, everyone just replied weakly.

Li Kui was very satisfied. He raised his head and could no longer hide the smile on his face. "What I want to tell you today is a good thing!!"

The people stood before him lifelessly, but no one responded, and no one had any expectation on their face.

Their daily lives are basically jumping back and forth between life and death. They dare not neglect a single day. They get up early in the morning, have a meal, then work until dark, have another meal, and then go to bed.

Many times, you may not even be able to afford two meals.

These two meals do not mean eating twice, but eating twice, most of the time it may be a bite in the morning and a bite in the evening.

Cao Wei's taxes were high and corvee labor was frequent. In fact, the people of the three kingdoms were similar, and the people of each country were tormented to this extent.

Even Cao Mao's situation might be better.

Li Kui said loudly, "Your Majesty is merciful! He cares deeply about the people of the world and has issued a special decree. Starting this year, oral calculations will be abolished! From now on, there will be no more need to pay the capitation tax!"

After Li Kui shouted like this, the faces of the people who had been lifeless finally showed some changes.

They seemed to wake up all of a sudden, and their originally dull eyes became bright.

For a moment, they seemed unable to believe what they heard.

"No more? No more poll tax?!"

Everyone asked each other questions, and the scene suddenly became chaotic.

Li Kui blew his beard angrily. Why didn’t these people listen to him?

Li Kui himself was very happy with this policy.

Although Li Kui can be barely considered in the official system of the Wei Dynasty, he is basically the lowest of the bottom.

Li Kui's salary is very low, and he still needs to farm to make a living, so he cannot leave his job.

Of course, the quality of life is definitely better than that of these peasants in front of me, but it is not much better.

He said angrily, "Listen to me!!"

Everyone suddenly became quiet and looked at him.

Seeing their expressions, Li Kui continued, "Your Majesty is benevolent and loves the people. This is known to everyone in the world. Your Majesty has pardoned your head tax this time. This is a great gift from heaven! You should be grateful!"

As soon as Li Kui finished speaking, someone in the audience shouted, "Long live His Majesty!!!"

As he cheered, the others also started shouting.

Li Kui was furious, "I have to lead the shouting! Stop! I have to lead you in shouting!!"

But at this moment, all they heard was the loud shouts of "Long live the Majesty". Some people hurriedly turned their heads, kowtowed to the north, and shouted "Long live the Majesty". The others followed suit.

Li Kui was anxious and angry, "Wrong! Wrong! Luoyang is over there! Over there!!"

The county soldiers behind said nothing, but just watched the scene calmly.

As everyone was bowing, suddenly, one man stood up abruptly, his face pale. He punched himself twice in the face and then burst into tears.

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet and everyone just looked at him.

Then, a few more people started sobbing.

Because they could not afford the debt, only they themselves knew what they had done.

But now, the nightmare is over.

The preaching situation in various places is similar to that in Cheng'anli.

In a short time, the news of the abolition of the head tax spread throughout the country, and people everywhere responded with cheers of "Long live the tax!" Regardless of what those in higher positions thought, in the eyes of the common people living on the brink of death, this was simply the most benevolent policy in the world, a policy that could save their entire families.

There are two types of head taxes today, also known as mental arithmetic, which are actually two different ways of taxation.

It was a tax, and the payers were men and women between the ages of fifteen and fifty-six, who had to pay 120 coins each year. For example, in a family, the husband and wife had to pay 240 coins.

In addition, merchants were charged double the tax. At the same time, in order to encourage early marriage and childbearing, women who did not marry after the age of 15 would have their tax increased continuously. If they could reach the age of 600, the tax could be increased to coins per year.

The mouth tax was called mouth money. In the early Western Han Dynasty, underage children aged seven to fourteen had to pay 20 coins to the temple. A family of three had to pay 260 coins to the temple per year.

From the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the most brutal tax collector was Emperor Wu, so people all over the world say that mental arithmetic started with Emperor Wu.

He raised the tax rate from 40 during Emperor Wen's time to 120, and also lowered the age for paying oral tax to three years old. Originally, children had to pay at the age of seven, but now they had to pay at the age of three.

In any case, the poll tax is a very unreasonable tax system that will widen the gap between the rich and the poor and cause great suffering to the people at the bottom.

It was basically impossible for ordinary people to have money. The "money" of their family was food, so the money was converted according to the price of food. The officials were responsible for the conversion. Just think about it, you can imagine how outrageous this conversion would be.
And now, the nightmare is finally over.

The people cheered for this.

This time, Cao Mao finally gained the complete support of the grassroots people. Now, the soldiers, the people, the middle and lower-level merchants and craftsmen, the three groups that Cao Mao wanted at the beginning, have all completely stood on his side.

Even the merchants in Luoyang wanted to shout "Long live the king" at this moment.

Because their poll tax was doubled.

Cao Mao received news almost every day saying that the people in certain places were very happy, cheering, kneeling spontaneously, and refusing to get up for a long time.

If there were a panel in front of me now, the grassroots people’s support would be at its maximum.

Well, the upper level is probably a negative number.
Now, Zhong Hui is responsible for the execution of all this. Zhong Hui is very concerned about this matter. Wherever he goes, he never forgets to tell his ministers that this is what he proposed and will implement!
Zhong Hui became increasingly busy and even seldom came to the Taiji Hall.

Cao Mao could no longer sit still. He immediately ordered Man Changwu and the others to dress casually, as he wanted to take a walk around Luoyang.

Every time Cao Mao went out, he basically used the identity of a child of a big family to cover himself.

Generally, the Xun family is used because they have so many family members. There are eight dragons in the Xun family, and they are all very successful. They probably don’t even know how many relatives they have.

After leaving the palace, Cao Mao changed his surname to Xun. He had done this many times before he took power.

Of course, Cao Mao wanted to go to his favorite restaurant.

Sure enough, this is what people are talking about.

Sitting here, Cao Mao could hear the merchants and passers-by around him excitedly talking about his benevolent rule.

"The Saint has exempted us from taxes this time. To be honest, I actually have three children at home, but I earn less than two thousand coins a year from roaming the streets. My parents are not even fifty-six yet, and the four of us earn nearly five hundred coins. Add to that the three children and the remaining commercial taxes, and I can barely support my family. I have no choice but to send my children to be raised by my wife's brother."

As the man spoke, he couldn't help wiping away his tears.

"It's good now. I can even order an extra dish for dinner today!"

Within just a few days, people began to call him a saint.

When Cao Mao heard these words, his eyes were full of joy.

Although he was not the kind of person who could not sit still when hearing others praise him, he was still very happy to be praised by the people. At this moment, he seemed to be happier than defeating those Hu people on the border.

Cao Mao enjoyed the meal very much and was very satisfied. He turned around and left.

Escorted by several people, he walked out of the restaurant and headed towards the carriage.

At this moment, a carriage passed by them. The person sitting in the carriage suddenly noticed the extremely tall Man Changwu. He was stunned and saw the young man getting on the carriage.

“Stop!! Stop!!”

The man shouted.

The carriage suddenly stopped and the man jumped off, but at that moment, seven or eight strong men surrounded him and made him unable to move.

He looked at Cao Mao, tiptoed, and seemed to be hesitant to speak.

Cao Mao looked at him and then laughed, "Let that fellow come over!"

Liu Lu walked quickly to Cao Mao's side and bowed with a smile.

"Are you heading to the palace?"

"Yes, I never thought I would meet Your Majesty on the way."

Liu Lugang said, and suddenly his face turned stern again, "Your Majesty, please return to the palace as soon as possible. It's not safe outside."

Cao Mao was stunned, "What?"

Liu Lu whispered, "A spy in Hanoi has informed us that a traitor is plotting to murder Your Majesty."

Cao Mao looked at him in disbelief, "Assassination?"

Liu Lu nodded, "Your Majesty, please go out. This is something that cannot be kept secret. And there are too many people who have a blood feud with Your Majesty."

"Your Majesty, please return to the palace first, and I will inform you in detail!"

ps: I will only be in the palace for one day this time. I am really sorry. My hand needs to rest for a day. Several fingers are sore. I want to wear finger gloves or something. Normal updates will resume from tomorrow!

(End of this chapter)