Abandoned daughter takes charge of the family, so rich that even the best people can't envy

"Junjun, find a chance to take a picture of us? If you take it well, there will be a reward when we get back."

"I see. You lead them to run in a string. Hey, just like that. It's so beautiful."

"Click, click, click" the treasure-hunting mouse Junjun hid in the peach tree and took a lot of photos.

Song Jinxiu led everyone to walk on the ridge of the rapeseed field, basking in the spring breeze and smelling the fragrance of flowers, feeling very comfortable.

Suddenly, a man rushed out from the side and knelt down in front of her, crying out in pain, "Princess, I am innocent. I hope you can help me!"

Tian Yuanyuan stumbled in fear, and Song Jinxiu quickly reached out to steady her.

Song Jinfang and Wei Qidong rushed to Song Jinxiu at the same time and pretended to protect her.

Song Jinxiu peeled the two apart, looked at the little girl with a face full of mud on the ground and asked, "Who are you?"

The little girl kowtowed and said, "I am Li Cuiya, a humble servant. I beg you, Princess, to save my brother."

"What happened to your brother?"

"He was locked up by the customs officials, who said he would be executed if he didn't pay the tax."

"Tax resistance?"

“No, we are not resisting the tax.”

It turned out that the girl was from Xingyang and lived by the Ying River. Her family originally had 15 mu of paddy fields, but more than a decade ago, the Ying River embankment collapsed and eight or nine mu of them were buried by quicksand.

After the water receded, five or six feet of yellow sand and gravel were left behind, which could not be cultivated at all. Therefore, the family only had five or six acres of paddy fields, but the annual tax and labor dispatch were still calculated based on fifteen acres.

Although their family asked people to write letters to the county government to explain the reason many times, they were rejected.

Because the land in the tax payment list had already been included in the court's fish scale list, the Ministry of Revenue collected grain and levied the capitation tax based on the records every year.

What if your family lost ten acres and his family lost five acres, and neither of them paid taxes? The county magistrate couldn't possibly pay the taxes for them out of his own pocket, right?

If you report it to a higher level, not only will it be extremely troublesome, but you may also lose your job.

Even if he keeps his job, he will not be able to pass the annual official evaluation without a source of tax revenue.

So from the county magistrate to the prefect, everyone turned a blind eye and ignored it.

This has made life difficult for the common people.

In theory, this is just a matter of destroying a few acres of land. It seems very simple, but it is extremely difficult for ordinary people to solve it.

The Li family suffered such a great injustice, but had no one to turn to for help. They had to pay the imperial grain every year and not a single pound or two less.

The small family in Dingmen was already living a hard life, and this now made things even worse.

A family of five or six mu of land would pay the tax of fifteen mu. In a good year, they could still have some grain left to feed themselves. But in a bad year, even if they had to pay all the rice they harvested, it would still not be enough. The family would have no means of survival.

In order to prevent the people under its jurisdiction from starving to death, the government came up with a solution, which was that the tax silver could not be reduced, but the debt could be owed.

After accumulating money for more than ten years, the family worked hard day and night, but ended up owing the government a huge debt, equivalent to 25 taels of tax silver.

The debt has been going on year after year, and it hasn't really cost them their lives.

But at the end of last year, a new county magistrate came and made his first move: he demanded that the people pay all the taxes they owed.

Twenty-five taels of silver was not enough to pay the debt even if the family sold their house. On New Year's Eve, the only male in the family, the girl's brother, was thrown into jail.

Only my mother, sister-in-law, little girl and a niece were left at home.

The four women had no one to turn to for help, so they knelt at the gate of the county government office along with the others and begged for more time.

The reason why they followed the crowd was because there were more than one family in the same situation as theirs.

Finally, an old yamen runner couldn't stand it anymore and secretly gave them an idea, asking them to go to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor.

So, these families gathered together to discuss and each family sent one person to go to the capital together.

I heard that those who filed a complaint with the emperor would first be beaten with a stick, so each household sent out their men, except for the little girl's family, who were in trouble.

The old mother had poor legs and could not keep up with the team. The team that was filing a complaint did not want her, and the little niece was young and could not leave her sister-in-law, so fourteen-year-old Li Cui Ya followed out.

However, the county magistrate knew the news, so how could he allow them to leave the county? Wanting to appeal to the emperor? No way. He sent officials to arrest them.

All the men were captured, but the little girl was ignored because she was hiding in the bushes, so she was let go.

The little girl didn't know the way to the capital, and she didn't dare to ask. The journey that should have taken half a month ended up taking her two months to get there.

When she arrived in the capital, she was completely in the dark. She only knew that she had to find the emperor to file a complaint, but the emperor was in the palace and she couldn't even get close to it.

She wanted to go to the Jingzhao Yin Yamen to appeal for justice, but she was driven away before she could even open her mouth.

She was penniless and had been begging along the way. She didn't expect that when she arrived in the capital and wanted to ask for a meal, she was almost dragged into a brothel.

She escaped from those people, ran all the way, and unexpectedly came to this Fuhua Temple.

There was free vegetarian food in the temple, so she didn't have to go hungry. The young monk allowed her to sleep in the woodshed, on the condition that she helped him clear the grass under the peach orchard.

So Li Cui Ya settled down in Fuhua Temple.

But she was obsessed with filing a complaint with the emperor. The last time she saw an official's wife, she stopped her and cried out for justice.

The official's wife sighed and said, "I'm not Princess Kang Le. I can't help you even if you cry out for justice. You should find someone else."

Although the official's wife left in anger, Li Cui Ya kowtowed to her back with great gratitude.

Going to Beijing alone, sleeping in the open air, experiencing the fickleness of human nature, and escaping death, the little girl has become able to listen to words and distinguish right from wrong.

Because although the lady did not help her, she showed her a way.

That is, if you want to file a complaint with the emperor, you have to find Princess Kangle.

Princess Kangle was a good official; she had heard about it as soon as she arrived in the capital.

So, when she heard Wei Qidong mention Princess Kangle, she chased after him almost reflexively.

Song Jinxiu frowned after hearing the little girl's crying.

She has to go to the Ministry of Revenue to inquire about taxation in various places.

"Stand up, and wait for me to investigate. If what you say is true, I will make the decision for you."

Li Cuiya was taken home by Song Jinxiu.

Chen Yaer and the other two who were hiding in the dark watching the fun sneered.

What a country bumpkin, taking in any cat or dog. Without any of the reserve and caution of a lady from an aristocratic family, could such a person be a princess?

Is the emperor bewildered by her beauty?

Cui Zixuan narrowed her eyes: If that's the case, then can I easily arrange someone to go to that bitch?

Well, pretend to cry out for justice? Or sell yourself to bury your father?

Ministry of Revenue,

Song Jinxiu opened the fish scale book of Xingyang and seemed to see a miniature version of Xingyang County.

The account book is like a miniature map.

Houses, mountains, forests, ponds, rivers, and fields are drawn in order and connected on a piece of paper, with the corresponding names marked on them. The squares are arranged one by one like fish scales, no wonder it is called the Fish Scale Book.

Song Jinxiu saw it clearly at a glance.