5: Weird taxes

The old village chief knelt on both knees, as frail as a candle in the wind, his hands carefully cupping seven or eight pieces of silver fragments as if they were precious treasures.

These silver fragments had been cut into strange shapes by scissors, looking just like silver dregs.

He knew clearly in his heart that these silver fragments added together probably weren't even enough for a cup of tea for a big shot in the city, so he was afraid that Chu Jiang would look down on them.

There was no other way; aside from their own worthless lives, this was the village's entire fortune, and there wasn't a single cent more.

But because not giving enough would only lead to a more miserable fate.

"Keep it for yourselves!" Chu Jiang glanced at them and continued walking toward the outside of the village. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped and looked at the old village chief, saying, "You don't need to pay the Demon Hunting Tax anymore."

"If anyone asks about it, tell them to come find me directly."

The so-called Demon Hunting Tax was nothing more than a means for some government runners to extort money.

The imperial court had no such tax; it was a new type of tax invented by local officials.

The imperial court already provided monetary rewards to officials participating in suppressing demons, but people were greedy and insatiable; they already had plenty of silver, yet they wanted more.

Moreover, confronting demons was too dangerous.

Extorting directly from the common people was a guaranteed profitable business; they were submissive and wouldn't resist, and even if they did, they would just be suppressed.

They collected the Demon Hunting Tax but didn't hunt a single demon, at most just driving them away; this was the current situation in White Stone County.

As for other regions, he didn't know, but he estimated it was likely much the same.

Just as the old village chief was stunned, a piece of pristine silver about the size of a thumb fell into his hand.

"Take this as what the imperial court owes you!"

Having said that, Chu Jiang strolled away.

Leaving only a silhouette carrying the heads of the Pig Demon and the Sheep Demon, gradually fading into the distance under the sunlight.

"Thank you, My Lord!"

The old village chief watched Chu Jiang's receding silhouette, bowed heavily, and kowtowed three times.

This bow came from the heart.

Every word Chu Jiang said had undoubtedly shaken his soul.

Even if it were true for only this one moment.

The eyes of the villagers of Daxing Village also changed at this moment; it wasn't that they became respectful, but rather complex.

The great King Yama Chu, who exploited the common people every day, had declared that they didn't need to pay the Demon Hunting Tax anymore, and had even left them an ingot of silver—the world had changed.

"Should we also thank him?"

Yes, they had to thank him.

Without further ado, the nearby villagers also followed the old village chief's lead and knelt down.

The villagers in the back didn't know what was going on, but seeing the people in front kneeling, they also knelt down, and soon a large crowd was kneeling.

At this moment.

They seemed to have forgotten that those demons yesterday had originally been brought by Chu Jiang.

...

White Stone County Government Office.

Chu Jiang was familiar with the route and walked into his own office area, the Demon Hunting Division.

The Demon Hunting Division was in charge of matters regarding demons, and only martial artists at least at the first level of the Physical Body could be selected into the Demon Hunting Division.

After all, for someone who wasn't even an Acquired martial artist, confronting demons was no different from seeking their own death.

The Demon Hunting Division had four chief constables; apart from the original body, every chief constable was at the seventh level of the Physical Body or higher.

As for the head of the Demon Hunting Division, Li Feng, he was an Innate expert.

In the general environment of confronting demons, the status of the Demon Hunting Division had risen sharply, and years ago it had become independent from the seventh office of the county government, becoming the largest violent institution in the county government.

Don't look at the fact that the original body's strength wasn't high; within the entire Demon Hunting Division, except for the head, Li Feng, almost no one dared to provoke him.

What he relied on, naturally, was his special relationship with the demons.

Just based on this, he could run rampant in White Stone County, a veritable local tyrant.

White Stone County was generally stable in its confrontation with demons, having repeatedly dealt with inspections from above, preserving the official positions of most people.

It was also the original body who mediated and navigated the relationships between all parties.

Just at this moment, a thin figure ran in hurriedly.

Seeing Chu Jiang sitting on the official chair, he immediately revealed a sycophantic expression, "Lord Chu, you have finally returned. If you didn't return, our Demon Hunting Division would have lost its backbone."

The person who came was named Zhang Liancai, already fifty years old, the person who had been with him the longest, the original body's most trusted deputy; outside, he represented Chu Jiang.

There was a rumor in the dark in White Stone County that Chu Jiang was the Great King Yama, and Zhang Liancai was the Old Plague God.

No one liked him.

His methods of extorting money were even more varied, and the Demon Hunting Tax was proposed by him.

It quickly spread throughout White Stone County and received high praise from the county government.

After tasting the sweetness.

He again utilized his intelligence and came up with various bizarre taxes.

Bachelor Tax: commoners who were eighteen and still unmarried had to pay a Late Marriage Tax; if they didn't marry for one year, they paid for one year, and if they didn't marry for ten years, they paid for ten years.

Furthermore, if they didn't have a baby within three years, they also had to pay an Infertility Tax.

Clothing Tax: as long as you were wearing clothes, you had to pay tax; some poor commoners, unable to pay the Clothing Tax, didn't even dare to go out.

Rice Tax: you had to pay tax to eat.

Medical Tax: you had to pay tax to see a doctor or get medicine at a clinic.

Even worse, there was even a Sunlight Tax. You even had to pay tax to sunbathe, euphemistically calling it a gift from heaven and earth, saying you weren't paying the tax to the government, but to the gods.

Once the gods received the offerings, they would protect the commoners from being harmed by demons.

But no matter how much money people paid, the demons never stopped, and continued to harm the commoners.

...

And so on, countless such examples.

It was purely to make up an excuse to rake in money; later, the government felt there were too many types of taxes, and the commoners had strong opinions, even leading to significant conflicts.

Only then were many bizarre taxes abolished.

But later they significantly increased the tax rate and created a so-called Everything Tax; from then on, only this had to be paid, and other taxes didn't need to be paid.

Of course, the Demon Hunting Tax still had to be paid.

Nowadays, White Stone County only had these two taxes; it sounded like very few, but the money that had to be paid didn't decrease much.

In a word, truly beastly.

But on second thought, he himself didn't seem to be much better; the original body was also a beast.

The only difference was:

Zhang Liancai was an old beast, and the original body was a big beast.

The identity he Transmigrated into was truly a disastrous start, like having a bunch of bombs tied to his body, and who knows when they might explode.

Chu Jiang sighed slightly in his heart, but his face showed no fluctuation in expression, and he asked in a calm tone, "I haven't been in the county government office for these two days. Has anything happened here?"

"My Lord, I was just about to tell you about this. In these two days you were away, our brothers have been miserable; you must decide for us." Zhang Liancai cried so miserably, wailing loudly; those who didn't know would have thought he had just lost his parents.

"That new chief constable Liu Guangwu is like he has a brain cramp, opposing us everywhere. This morning we went to the East Street to collect taxes, and that damned Chief Constable Liu stopped us, not only saying we were abusing tax collection but also beating up the brothers who went to collect the taxes."

"We brought up your name, but they beat us even harder, saying you were just a local tortoise, which is simply not taking you seriously at all."

"We must give him a taste of our power. In the Demon Hunting Division, in the entire White Stone County, everyone gives you seven points of face; he is just a chief constable who has been here for one month, yet he dares to be so arrogant."

Chu Jiang frowned slightly, and said, seemingly full of Life Qi, "There is such a thing?"

With Zhang Liancai's nature, there must certainly be elements of exaggeration in it.

Liu Guangwu was a rare anomaly in the Demon Hunting Division, the newly adopted son of the number two person in White Stone County, Liu County Magistrate, not very sociable, not greedy for money, and did not allow his subordinates to collect the Demon Hunting Tax.

Having only been on duty in White Stone County for a month, he had already accumulated a little fame.

However, why did he have a feeling of being a villain?

In the early stage, the small villain does many evil deeds, the righteous protagonist does not fear power, bravely fights against the hateful big villain, and finally defeats the villain to harvest a wave of popular support.

Immediately after, rising in rank step by step?