I am a living immortal.

North, Jizhou City.

The climate and environment here are vastly different from those in the south. The sun hangs high in the sky, baking the earth to cracks and distorting the air. Cicadas in the woods chirp relentlessly, their constant summer obsession. Unfortunately, this incessant noise is displeasing to no one but themselves, and it also irritates others.

Fortunately, the joy of the harvest diluted some of the irritability.

Jizhou, one of the Yan Dynasty's major grain-producing regions, primarily produces rice and wheat. The fertile soil yields a good harvest even with a few casually sown seeds and no tending, let alone meticulous care. People today value their fields more than their own lives. Perhaps their fields are their very lives, so how could they throw them away so easily?

As a result, the rice harvest here is often 10% to 20% higher than in the south. It might not sound like much, but you have to understand that this area boasts vast plains far exceeding those in the south, with rice paddies stretching as far as the eye can see. The carriage traveled for days without leaving this plain. Jizhou's reputation as a "grain-producing city" wasn't for nothing.

However, throughout the north, there were nearly ten cities like Jizhou. These ten cities controlled almost 90% of the Yan Dynasty's grain. Seeing it with one's own eyes was far more shocking than a string of numbers.

It was now July, and the rice harvest was underway, while the wheat harvest had already been completed. Some families kept the harvest for next year's seeds and their own food, while others handed it over to the imperial court. The same was true for the rice.

The Yan Dynasty originally implemented a tax rate of 15% per mu, which was not high to begin with. However, in order to promote trade, this tax rate was officially reduced to 30% per mu, a reduction of half. However, the response in the northern regions was lukewarm. The reason was that the government was deceiving people with its superficiality.

In the distance, a carriage slowly approached, and a hand lifted the curtain to look out. It was clearly a good harvest, but although the people here did not look sad, they did not have the joy of a good harvest either.

"It's really strange. This year is clearly a year of bumper harvest, so why do these people seem unhappy?" asked a voice in the carriage.

The driver said helplessly: "Sir, the tax has increased again this year. Who can be happy?"

"You say one thing on the surface and another behind the scenes."

"Yes, on the surface, officials across the north responded to the imperial court's request and reduced taxes from the original 15% to 30%. Although the land tax was reduced, the various additional taxes remained the same. If they couldn't pay, they would use grain to offset the taxes. The capitation tax, farm tool fees, market fees, and travel fees—all added together, the total would probably be much higher than the original 15%."

"I heard that the highest tax rate is one-tenth, or even higher."

"We have our reasons for this. So, my lord, you must be prepared. The people will not dare to deal with the officials, so they can only take their anger out on us."

"So the caravan can't move forward?"

The driver nodded helplessly.

The people in the car thought about it and decided that this was a good idea. If taxes were high and the people had no surplus food, they would probably starve to death this year. How could they possibly sell food to them?

Meanwhile, those officials were enriching themselves with the additional taxes. Just think about it, this is a huge sum. These people even ate much more than the imperial court, the figure is astronomical.

Purchasing from the common people might not be an option, so the main thing was to get it from the big landlords or the powerful families. But now those powerful people were all gluttons, so how could they spit out what they had eaten?

It seems that we still have to make some effort elsewhere.

"The North is truly united. If this were to be exposed, no one would be happy. There's no way to bribe them, and it's a capital offense. The difficulty lies in the fact that almost all officials are involved. I'm afraid those who didn't have already been dealt with. They're truly united, and it's going to be difficult to deal with."

"Who says it's not true? Besides, these people not only collect extra taxes, but also mark up the price of the grain they collect and sell it to the people. Sigh."

“There are always more solutions than problems…”

However, before he could finish his words, the horse suddenly snapped, startled by a stone that had hit it from nowhere, and began to neigh and run around. The driver immediately tightened the reins, trying to control the horse.

This driver was no ordinary man. How could he possibly be the one to pick up this new manager? He tightened the reins with one hand, pulling the horse's front hooves high, and roared, "Stop!"

The effect was immediate. The wild horse that was roaring just now had stopped obediently, and its eyes were much clearer.

“Does this happen often?”

He didn't seem to show any panic in the car because of the accident, and asked in a calm tone.

"Yes, sir, that's what I said before. The people around us don't seem very friendly to us. This is what they do, using stones to stimulate horses or digging shallow pits to cause accidents. We can't be too harsh on them, because the more we do this, the greater the resentment we will arouse."

"So you are just going to swallow this loss?" asked the person in the car.

The driver remained silent, which was considered as his agreement.

"Alas, what a harsh environment. However, since we already know that food will be taken from the hands of those powerful people, we don't care about it anymore. We can tolerate it for a while, but not forever. Besides, these people don't represent everyone's opinions. If we don't teach them a lesson, will they become even more aggressive?"

Seeing a few people dressed in coarse cloth and looking like thugs spitting at the carriage unscrupulously, they wanted to just walk away.

The person in the car said calmly: "Since you are here, don't leave."

Hearing this, those people remained unmoved. Instead, they sneered with a playful smile: "What big talk! Outsiders like you are not welcome here...Aa ...

Before he could finish his words, a loud scream startled the birds living in the forest.

The young man who had just spoken was clutching his thigh, howling in agony. One of his legs was broken, shattered by a copper coin. In the distance, the blood-stained copper coin lay quietly on the ground.

"This is just a lesson. Next time, it won't be your legs that are broken, but your neck."

The companion of the person who spoke had disappeared without a trace the moment he was stained with blood, and had no intention of caring about him at all.

“Let’s go.”

The carriage didn't stop because of the man's screams. The news that a ruthless individual had arrived in the caravan quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys. And the person who came to deal with it this time was none other than Chen Tao, who had come to Yan Dynasty to learn martial arts.