bullyxtreme Chapter 13: All the money and grain in the country enters the capital!
Chapter 13: All the money and grain in the country enters the capital!
"What?!"
"Purchasing back taxes?!"
Xie En was startled and quickly picked up the list that Tan Luzi had thrown out, starting to read it from the beginning.
Xie En grew increasingly alarmed and disheartened as he looked at the sight!
This list clearly records the tax arrears owed by the Xie family from the first year of the Hongzhi reign to the eighteenth year of the Hongzhi reign.
The amount of tax owed each year was as high as tens of thousands of bushels of grain!
Xie En trembled with rage, his eyes blazing, and he roared at Tan Luzi, "These taxes were all waived by imperial decree issued by the late emperor himself!"
"What you are doing is a violation of the late emperor's edict!"
Tan Luzi looked indifferently at Xie En, who was trembling with anger, and said calmly, "Patriarch Xie, times have changed. His Majesty is now in power."
"If the Western Depot does not receive the owed taxes or equivalent silver within three days, the Western Depot will slaughter your entire Xie family and confiscate all their property!"
"Then why don't you try slaughtering one yourself?!"
"My son is currently a Grand Secretary in the Cabinet, and His Majesty's teacher!"
"Your Western Depot is so domineering! I'm going to submit a memorial to His Majesty and file a complaint with the Emperor!"
Xie En glared at Tan Luzi and slammed his hand on the table.
But Tan Luzi ignored him, stood up, and walked outside.
"Pass down the order: if no silver or grain is found within three days, immediately confiscate their property and exterminate their entire clan!"
"Yes, sir!"
Hundreds of agents from the Western Depot responded in unison, their voices resounding throughout the heavens!
For a moment, a somber atmosphere filled the air.
The Xie family descendants present were all taken aback by the imposing presence of the Western Depot. They had a vague feeling that the Western Depot wasn't actually trying to intimidate them.
If they fail to produce silver and grain within three days, these vicious agents of the Western Depot might actually attack them...
"Grandpa, what are we going to do now?!"
"Are we really going to give up all this money and supplies?!"
Xie Qian's eldest son, Xie Zheng, looked at Xie En with an anxious expression.
Xie En didn't speak, but stared grimly in the direction Tan Luzi had left, gripping his cane tightly with both hands.
Similar incidents are unfolding one after another throughout the Ming Dynasty.
The first thing the eunuchs sent by the Western Depot to serve as garrison eunuchs in various places did upon arrival was to go to the residences of local landlords and officials to collect overdue taxes.
Among the taxes exempted by Emperor Xiaozong, these high-ranking officials and their families benefited the most.
Each of them controlled tens of thousands of acres of land, yet they only had to pay a few dozen or a few hundred bushels of grain tax throughout the year.
Poor peasants with only five or six acres of land had to pay as much as ten bushels of grain as taxes.
The yield of one mu of land varies from fertile to poor land, yielding two to three shi of grain per year.
This means that a poor person works hard for a year, but more than half of their harvest has to be handed over to the national treasury, and the remaining grain is not even enough to feed their family.
Whenever there is a natural disaster or man-made calamity, they have to sell their children and land, becoming tenants of large landowners.
Emperor Xiaozong's tax exemption policy, however, did not benefit the working class who truly needed relief from their burdens; instead, it was all enjoyed by the landlords and gentry.
If Zhu Houzhao didn't ask these landlords and gentry for money, who else could he ask?
In an instant, all the gentry and landlords in the entire Ming Dynasty were in chaos, almost driven mad by these eunuchs guarding the Western Depot.
Three days later, in the main hall of the Xie family mansion in Yuyao, Tan Luzi silently wiped the long knife in his hand while staring at a stick of sandalwood incense in the incense burner.
Once this incense stick has burned out, the three-day period will be over.
If he doesn't see the money and grain owed by the Xie family, then the Xie family of Yuyao will cease to exist from this day forward.
The Western Depot, a promise made!
Time was ticking away, and the stick of sandalwood incense was about to burn out completely.
The agents of the Western Depot gripped their long knives tightly, waiting for the incense ash to fall completely before slaughtering the entire Xie family!
Just as the incense ash was about to burn out, Xie Zheng, the eldest grandson of the Xie family, rushed into the room in a hurry, cupped his hands to Tan Luzi, and said anxiously while panting heavily.
"Eunuch Tan, the taxes owed by the Xie family have all been prepared. Please go to the backyard to check them."
Tan Luzi looked up and saw that the incense ash had just fallen silently.
Xie Zheng also saw the piece of incense ash fall, and his heart pounded as if it were about to jump out of his chest.
Tan Luzi sheathed his sword: "Lead the way."
"Yes, gentlemen, please follow me."
Xie Zheng was unaware that his entire Xie family had already narrowly escaped death.
Tan Luzi, along with a group of agents from the Western Depot, followed Xie Zheng to the backyard.
In the backyard, there were large quantities of silver and grain.
Xie Zheng explained, "Eunuch Tan, we can't produce that much grain all at once. Here is 70,000 shi of grain and 140,000 taels of silver."
As Xie Zheng spoke, he looked at the money and grain, his face showing pain.
Deep within his eyes lurked a venomous glint.
Over the past ten years or so, the Xie family has lost almost half of the money they made by relying on Xie Qian's influence.
How could this not break Xie Zheng's heart?
How can one not resent the Western Depot and the Ming Emperor?
Without wasting words, Tan Luzi immediately organized the West Depot's personnel to inventory the grain and silver.
After spending several hours confirming that the amount of grain and silver was correct, the Western Depot quickly left the Xie family with the silver and grain.
They still have a lot of silver and grain to recover, so they must seize every moment and not waste a single second!
After the people from the West Depot left, Xie Zheng rushed into the room to report the situation to Xie En.
"Grandpa, the Western Depot has taken all that silver and grain and left!"
"Grandpa, are we just going to let the Western Depot take all the silver and grain away like this?"
"This is all the Xie family's silver and grain!"
"Of course we can't just let it go like this!"
Suppressing his anger, Xie En said, "Immediately inform Xie Qian about this and have him stand up for our Xie family!"
"Yes, I'll go write the letter right away!"
Xie Zheng was delighted and immediately recorded the matter. He then sent someone carefully to deliver the letter to Xie Qian, the Grand Secretary in the capital.
Meanwhile, the eunuchs guarding various regions were also reporting successes one after another.
When the eunuchs in charge of the West Depot were collecting back taxes from other landlords and gentry, some of them, like the Xie family, backed down at the last minute and made up for all the money and grain they owed.
But there were also those who were incredibly stubborn and refused to pay the outstanding taxes, even at the cost of their lives.
Faced with these families who were unwilling to make up for the shortfall in taxes and provisions, the Western Depot showed no mercy and immediately took swift and decisive action, slaughtering these families to the last man!
If the Western Depot says to execute the entire family, then it means to execute the entire family!
The entire family, from the oldest to the youngest, was slaughtered; not even a dog was spared!
The Western Depot first exterminated the entire clan, then confiscated their property, packed up all their money and grain, and sent them back to the capital overnight.
In an instant, all the money and grain in the country were continuously transported into the capital!