In the famine, others ate Guanyin soil, but he had space to build a farm.

On the second day, the sun was blazing, shining on every inch of land in Xishan County. The whole county was in a frenzy, and prominent merchants set out from their respective mansions and gathered in the direction of the county government. They rode horses or sedan chairs, chatting and laughing along the way, but their brows revealed a hint of solemnity.

Sun Ying, a well-known businessman in Xishan County, was also among the group. He rode a tall horse, dressed in a brocade robe, and looked calm. As soon as he arrived at the gate of the county government, someone came up to greet him warmly.

"Boss Sun, you are here too!" A businessman bowed and smiled, with some respect in his eyes.

Sun Ying smiled and nodded, responding: "I received the invitation yesterday, how could I not come?" There was a calmness and confidence in his voice, which made people feel a little favorable towards him.

Walking into the county hall, I saw that quite a few people had gathered inside. Everyone was talking about the upcoming taxation.

An obese middle-aged man squeezed next to Sun Ying and whispered, "Boss Sun, I heard that this time it's a tax issue. It's okay to pay some taxes, but this time they ask us to make donations. These days, no one has an easy life, so where can we get extra money to donate?" His face was full of worry, and he was obviously quite dissatisfied with the matter.

Sun Ying frowned slightly, knowing that this matter was not simple. He looked around and saw a white-haired old man sighing: "Yes, we all need to unite. What does it have to do with us if those peasants cannot pay taxes?"

Sun Ying's heart moved, thinking that these people had indeed made plans in advance. He observed the expressions of the crowd calmly and found that they seemed to have discussed it and were only willing to donate 100 kilograms of grain.

This amount may be a considerable burden for ordinary families, but it is obviously not enough for the entire county. Sun Ying knew that this matter would not be easily resolved.

Soon, several powerful figures such as Chen County Magistrate, Shi Zhubu, and Dianshi also arrived one after another. As soon as they appeared, the atmosphere in the whole hall suddenly became tense.

Merchants and wealthy people came forward to greet them, their faces full of smiles. They knew in their hearts that these powerful people were the key to their fate.

County Magistrate Chen glanced at everyone and spoke slowly: "I will rely on you a lot today. I believe you all know why I asked you to come here today." Although his voice was not loud, it was full of majesty, and people dared not look down on him in the slightest.

"Sir Chen, you are here to discuss the issue of taxation, right? Since the court has issued a notice to levy taxes, you can rest assured that I, Liu Fei, will be the first to support it! I will not pay a penny less than the taxes that should be paid! In addition, I will also give you 1 kilograms of tax to support your taxation!" This man is called Liu Fei.

He said it in a high-sounding manner. He also took the initiative to talk about donating grain. However, he set the amount of donation! This made Chen Xiancheng and several others frown. They had already considered that these people should donate at least 1000 kilograms of grain each. They knew how much wealth these people had. Even a two-year drought would not hurt their foundation.

"Everyone knows the current situation in the county! Since the imperial court has issued an order to collect taxes, we cannot evade the tax! We are all from this place! We don't want to see the entire Xishan County. The villagers will be forced to sell their children and go to the dead end. Let's put it this way. I don't want you to donate too much. Each family can donate 1000 kilograms of grain. It won't hurt you too much. We can also have an explanation!" At this time, County Magistrate Chen was sitting in the middle. Originally, he wanted to let these people donate by themselves. He didn't ask for a number. Unexpectedly, these people seemed to have discussed it long ago, and they asked for 100 kilograms right away. He had to say the number he wanted them to donate.

"Master Chen! It is really difficult for us to take out another 1000 kilograms of grain! There was no harvest last year and this year! We have been fed and fed by the people and horses at home, and there is not much surplus grain!..." The man named Liu Fei was interrupted before he finished speaking.

"I'll give you two choices! Either you hand over the grain, or I'll take people to your house to take it!" Chen Xiancheng put the teacup in his hand heavily on the tea table next to him. With a bang, the tea in the cup spilled out. The originally noisy scene suddenly became quiet. No one dared to stand up and object at this time. To be honest, grain is really precious now! 1000 kilograms of grain can buy many strong men and young girls.

Chen County Magistrate's words caused the entire hall to fall into a brief silence. The merchants and wealthy families looked at each other with hesitation on their faces. They knew that Chen County Magistrate, as a powerful figure in the county, had made such a statement, which meant that he had made a decision and would not change it easily.

Sun Ying stood aside, quietly observing the reactions of the crowd. He understood that this was a critical moment and he had to make a choice. He knew that although donating 1000 kilograms of grain was indeed a considerable burden for him, if he could take this opportunity to establish a good relationship with Chen Xiancheng and others, it would undoubtedly be a very good opportunity for him.

Thinking of this, Sun Ying took a deep breath, stood up, bowed and said: "Sir Chen, I am willing to donate 1000 kilograms of grain." Although his voice was not loud, it rang clearly in everyone's ears.

As soon as he finished speaking, there was a buzz of discussion around him. Some people looked at him in surprise, while several powerful people in the county government showed a hint of approval. County Magistrate Chen nodded slightly, with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Okay! Boss Sun is really straightforward!" County Magistrate Chen said with a smile, "With Boss Sun's support, I believe this matter can be resolved satisfactorily. I'm here to say no, this is your support for me that I can see! If there is anything we can use in the future, we will not forget your support!"

Then, other merchants and wealthy families also expressed their willingness to donate grain. Although some people were still reluctant, they had to compromise under the power of Chen County Magistrate.

Soon, the atmosphere in the hall became relaxed. Merchants and wealthy people began to communicate with each other, discussing their respective businesses and future plans. County Magistrate Chen and others also showed satisfied smiles, knowing that this matter was already half successful.

However, they did not realize that this incident was just the beginning, and a bigger storm was waiting for them. And Sun Ying, as one of the key figures, would also play an important role in this storm.

This time, we successfully collected nearly 2 kilograms of grain. This can be regarded as solving part of the tax problem. This is called taxation. In the case of drought, we cannot pay all of it. We cannot pay too little either. There must be a limit. 3% to % is the best.

"I didn't expect it to be so smooth this time! Let's urge those peasants to pay some taxes and we will have completed the task!" Shi Zhubu said with a smile.

"Count the total amount of taxes and donated grain without them!" County Magistrate Chen suddenly asked at this time.

"It's not a total of 36,000 kilograms of grain!" said Shi Zhubu as he looked at the statistical figures.

"It should be 2 jin! You must have counted it wrong!" County Magistrate Chen suddenly said with a smile.

The people present immediately realized that County Magistrate Chen wanted to put the extra 1 kilograms of grain into their pockets.

"Yes! That's 2 kilograms of grain!" Shi Zhubu said with a smile. You know, Chen Jun's grain depot was robbed, and their losses were so great that they were looking for a place to make up for it.

"But these 2 kilograms of grain are not enough to pay the tax!" Shi Zhubu said anxiously at this time.

"There's no need to rush! Those peasants always like to hide some food for future use. They are just like field mice who always like to hide food in holes! Notify the village heads and ask them to collect food from each village. It's easy to collect 10,000 or 20,000 kilograms!" County Magistrate Chen had already thought about it!

"Isn't this too much?" asked Shi Zhubu worriedly.

"It's okay! As long as there's grass roots and tree barks to eat, these people won't cause trouble! Otherwise, how can we complete the task? If we can't even pay 20% of the taxes, we won't be able to get past County Magistrate Li and we won't be able to explain ourselves!" County Magistrate Chen raised his hand indifferently.