BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1572: Inconsistent
“There is a document on the shelf behind the office of the county magistrate. It is a tax reduction document. No matter what, the tax should be reduced by twenty percent. Looking at the time, it was issued to all places in the year the Emperor unified the world. There was no tax increase document in that room, nor was there any document that stated how much tax should be paid according to the acres regardless of the harvest. No document stated how much tax should be paid according to the acre for growing vegetables in the backyard.”
Knowing that Xue Yan had not finished speaking, Jiang Yue was not in a hurry to speak.
However, just this document alone was enough to make them certain that the heavy taxes in Dianhe County had nothing to do with Shi Yuan, the Emperor of Da Chen.
It was obvious that the other government offices also had this official document. This was the decree issued by Shi Yuan, and the Imperial Capital had kept it. Shi Yuan himself knew that he had issued this decree, and so did the civil and military officials. Therefore, it did not matter whether Xue Yan took this official document back as evidence or not.
It would be better if he didn’t take it back, lest he alert the enemy.
Xue Yan immediately continued, “I also went into the county office’s storeroom to investigate. I flipped through some of the books where the tax collection records of Dianhe County were kept.
“The books recorded in detail the situation of the people paying taxes every year, but it didn’t match the actual situation at all. In those books, especially in the last two years, it was recorded that the tax should be reduced by twenty percent according to the harvest, which shows the authenticity of the tax reduction official document in the county magistrate’s room.
“Stone Village’s tax collection was also recorded in the book. Except for the population, everything else did not match. Stone Village had paid far more taxes in the past two years than what was recorded in the book. These books were forged for reporting to the Emperor, Shi Yuan.
“Those taxes that were more than what was recorded in the book had fallen into the hands of the corrupt officials and their subordinates. The actual amount of taxes collected from the people should have been hidden or destroyed by them. However, the possibility of it being destroyed should not be high. For such a big matter, Magistrate Dian alone would not be able to cover his tracks. There should be many officials involved.
“This must mean that even some officials in the capital have received benefits. The real book is the basis for them to divide the benefits. If Magistrate Dian destroys the real book, when the matter is exposed, the officials can abandon him at any time. He’s just a pawn in the game. Magistrate Dian and the people below him should be willing to do anything to protect themselves…
“No matter if this matter gets exposed or not, the higher-ups will want to protect them.” He stopped talking.
“It’s like this.” Jiang Yue said. “Putting this book in the storeroom naturally has its uses. It’s to prevent people from investigating, but why didn’t anyone investigate? It must be because there are higher-ranking officials protecting them, allowing the officials here to do whatever they wish.
“Perhaps someone had already come to investigate, but why are Magistrate Dian and the others fine? It was obvious that the person who came to investigate was in cahoots with Magistrate Dian and the others. They are just here to go through the motions and say that there is nothing wrong.
“Whether or not someone came to investigate, I’m sure that County Magistrate Dian and the others have people above them who can help them suppress this matter.” She spoke.
Xue Yan nodded in agreement.
“The Emperor is far away so he does not know that the officials are deceiving their superiors and subordinates,” Jiang Yue continued, “The Emperor, Shi Yuan, still doesn’t know about this. However, it’s impossible that no one in the Imperial Capital knows about this. Let’s not talk about the people in the other counties, just take Dianhe County as an example. There were so many people there, and Tao Zhen couldn’t possibly be the only one who felt that there might be a problem, right? And those who think there’s a problem can’t be like Tao Zhen and go to the capital without doubts, right?”