I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 15 Taxation
In the second half of the month, Xu Qing's daily routine was extremely regular.

Every morning as soon as the rooster crowed, he would rush to the vegetable market before the old men and women to pick out the freshest eggs and the hottest pig's and duck's blood.

After visiting the vegetable market and returning to the shop, in addition to chatting with neighbors, they would occasionally exchange business information with each other. After all, the business on this street has long formed an invisible industrial chain. No matter which shop gets the work, other shops will have the opportunity to get some benefits.

The most eye-catching ones are Uncle Hu’s coffin shop on the street and Brother Xu’s coroner shop at the end of the street.

One of these two is responsible for making the coffin, and the other is responsible for the burial. As long as either of these two comes to do business, all other shops, whether it is an incense and candle shop or a paper-making shop, will surely get a taste of the good stuff!
At night, Xu Qing would come to the backyard and use the methods of corpse-raising to absorb the moonlight's Yin energy and refine the zombie's Yin essence. Although the progress has been neither fast nor slow, he can clearly feel that his body is evolving into an armored zombie bit by bit.

During this period, Mr. Hu from the coffin shop also delivered two coffins made of raw leather and wood to the store.

Xu Qing planned to use one of the two enlarged and widened coffins to hold the deceased's body and the other as a plank bed for handling the deceased's body.

His business is still in its infancy. First, his reputation has not been established, and second, his publicity is not in place. Apart from the cooperation with the government, it is difficult for him to open up business in other places for the time being.

During these few days, while Xu Qing continued to practice, he also gradually began to adapt to the pace of life in Linhefang.

Wu Yaoxing, a man who knew how to deal with things next door, had introduced him to a job of feng shui reading and relocating graves. However, the grave was an old one, and not only could the person in the coffin not be moved, even the coffin that had been dug out had been rotten by the rainwater that had seeped into the soil.

Xu Qing also tried to summon the soul of the dry bones, but he didn't even see a soul.

He guessed that the owner of the dry bones had either returned to the underworld or entered the netherworld and been reincarnated!
Fortunately, I earned some money from the trip, so it wasn't all in vain.

In addition, Xu Qing also heard news from some old acquaintances.

For example, Su Hongxiu, who left the Liu Mansion, once topped the list of the most visited brothels because of her widowed persona, and briefly became the most famous figure in Linhefang.

I can only say that these days, whether it is a cat or a dog, anyone can jump onto the table to get a few mouthfuls of hot rice.

Xu Qing was not very interested in the role-playing game of a widow, but he was quite interested in the flirting toys in high-end brothels.

Of course, some people with dirty hearts may think that these aphrodisiacs are things like Burmese bells, sheep eye rings, hanging jade rings, and pepper wood.

Xu Qing is not such a vulgar person!
What he was actually interested in was the Fusheng incense lit in Youlan Pavilion and the high-quality laurel wax provided by Cuiyun Tower.

The former, Fu Sheng Xiang, is very similar to the spiritual incense inhaled by zombies. Both contain the ingredient of Dihun Grass and are substitute products.

Xu Qing even suspected that there were practitioners similar to those in the Yin Sect hiding in the Youlan Pavilion, and it was possible that they were not even human.

The latter laurel wax is a candle made from high-quality laurel oil purchased by Cuiyun Tower in Luojing through special channels. Xu Qingguang could smell the tempting scent of oil and wax just by passing by Cuiyun Tower!

This red-light district is simply a paradise for zombies to refresh their minds and relax their bodies and minds!
It's even more exciting than dancing at a grave!

The end of the first lunar month.

That day, Xu Qing sat in the shop waiting for business as usual.

At noon, two well-dressed men suddenly came into the store which had been deserted for most of the day.

Both of them wore round-necked, soap-colored, wide-sleeved shirts, with palm-wide red cloth ribbons tied around their waists and brass ivory plates tied on the sides.

Most of the yamen clerks wore narrow-sleeved shirts, and only civil servants wore wide sleeves. Looking at the ivory plate, the words "Tax Collector" were clearly engraved on it.

"Boss, do you want to be an official?"

As soon as the leading tax collector entered the shop, he saw Xu Qing sitting on a coffin and couldn't help but start making fun of him.

How could he know that in the coffin under Xu Qing's butt, there was an embalmed corpse!
"I'm not sitting in a coffin, I'm holding it." Xu Qing smiled, stood up to greet the guests and said, "Guests, please see if there is anything you need. I have services for funerals, burials, coffin removals, and more."

Before he could finish, another tax collector frowned and said, "We're not here to handle these matters. Let me ask you, have you paid the taxes before the New Year?" "Before the New Year? Taxes?" Xu Qing was puzzled. "My shop just opened. Why should I pay taxes before the New Year?"

"Don't try to fool me. I already made inquiries before coming here. You opened a store here as early as December of last year, so you must pay the taxes owed last year!"

"Every merchant has to pay according to their share every year, so you need to pay an additional two and a half taels of silver, or two stone of rice."

As he spoke, the tax collector pointed outside the shop and reminded him, "Get ready immediately. If you have rice, the carriage will be outside. If you don't have rice, take two and a half taels of silver to pay for it."

Xu Qing immediately felt unhappy when he heard this.

Commercial taxes have existed since ancient times. Taxes such as rent, levies, and even mountain and lake taxes and miscellaneous taxes are all within the scope of commercial tax collection.

Xu Qing knew that this was the rule, and he had no objection to the Capital Taxation Bureau coming to collect commercial taxes.

As the saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. If the tax commissioner asked him about collecting taxes this year, he would not say a word.

But the key point is that the two tax collectors in front of him are not here to collect this year's taxes, but to ask for last year's taxes.
"Sir, as you just said, my shop only opened in December of last year, so it's only been a month and a half now. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to ask me for the entire year's tax?"

"You don't have to pay if you don't think it's appropriate, but if your shop gets shut down later, don't regret it!"

As soon as the other party finished speaking, the yamen runners guarding outside the store made a move to go in.

Xu Qing was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "I was just joking with you two adults. I'm a good family man from the Great Yong Dynasty. How could I evade taxes?"

"But I remember the tax wasn't just one dan of rice. Why two dan this time?"

The head tax collector's expression softened slightly as he explained, "Many disaster victims have fled here. The Lord of Baisha County has issued an order requiring every household in Linhefang to contribute half a stone of rice to provide relief to the disaster victims."

"What about the remaining half stone?"

"Where did you get half a stone? Do you think there would be no loss in transporting and distributing grain?"

When Xu Qing heard this, he understood instantly.

Those who come to collect taxes will directly explain why they are overcharging. If the people come to pay their grain at a fixed time and place, there will be no explicit explanation. The inspectors will check and balance the so-called losses.

Xu Qing let out a sigh and said nothing more. He reached into his purse and took out two and a half taels of silver.

Two taels of it were green coins, and half a tael was ordinary change.

The Qingqiu money was used to make up for last year's taxes, and the half-liang of silver was for the disaster victims who fled here.

After watching the tax collector leave, Xu Qing stood at the door of the shop, speechless for a long time.

Wu Yaoxing, who was next door, came over sighing, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "Don't worry too much. We can earn money if we lose it. If you want to blame someone, blame the world. It's so inhumane!"

Xu Qing shook his head and said, "I don't feel bad. As long as the half tael of silver for disaster relief can be put to good use, so that the victims can have a hot meal and survive this cold month, that's all that's good."

Wu Yaoxing nodded, his brows relaxed as he said, "That's a good point. You're still young, after all. If you can study hard like my son, you don't need to be very talented in the future. You just need to pass the exam and become a scholar. Not only will you be exempt from taxes, but you won't even have to kneel when you meet officials. It will also be impressive if you tell others about it."

A scholar?

Xu Qing's heart moved. It seemed that he could really do this thing!

(End of this chapter)