Chapter 440 - Chen Minggang's Abacus

Chen Minggang thanked him and took his seat, eyes sliding calculatingly across Xiong Buyou's face.

"Master Xiong, please speak your mind freely."

"Old Eight!" Xiong Buyou adopted Wang Zhaomin's familiar address, projecting warmth without lowering his own status. After all, even the county gentry called him "Old Eight."

"There's a matter I need you to be straight with me about." Xiong Buyou dispensed with pleasantries—given both sides' communication abilities, directness proved far easier.

He repeated Wang Zhaomin's tax payment request, then asked plainly: "What problems exist with the county's autumn tax collection?"

"Naturally, there are problems." Chen Minggang's expression remained unruffled, as though he had anticipated this question long before. His composure told Xiong Buyou that he had known about Wang Zhaomin's approach all along.

"Master Xiong, does Australia also collect grain tax?" Chen Minggang inquired.

"Imperial grain and national tax exist everywhere under heaven. Australia is no exception." Though the agricultural tax had been abolished in their original timeline—and only for a number of years at that—it had once existed.

"Does Master Xiong know how Australia collects its grain tax?" Chen Minggang pressed. "Are there any abuses?"

Xiong Buyou naturally didn't know this. Considering that the government's abolition of agricultural tax had served partly to benefit farmers and partly to eliminate the harassment accompanying collection, he could only say: "I'm not entirely clear on that. Probably there are some."

"Then you understand—every trade has its difficulties." Chen Minggang spoke with calm assurance. "Take the Great Ming, for instance. The two taxes of summer and autumn are the court's primary revenue. However, every county invariably has its share of obstinate people who stubbornly resist payment. If the county presses too hard, they abandon their land and flee to other villages. For the sake of his performance evaluation, the Magistrate can't pursue too vigorously either..."

This sounded quite different from the Ming dynasty tax problems Xiong Buyou had learned about in the social conditions lecture. Besides, would tax-evading wealthy households really abandon their land and flee? On reflection, he realized that the lecture had addressed systemic abuses, while Chen Minggang was one of the system's greatest beneficiaries—why would he speak ill of it? Better to simply listen.

"The number of households and population in the county is a key metric in the Magistrate's evaluation. If the household count drops during his term, his assessment suffers. So toward such stubborn elements, he can only—and finds it inconvenient to—investigate thoroughly. He must simply accept whatever they deign to pay."

"Do the gentry in the county pay their grain tax in full?"

Chen Minggang nodded. "Master Xiong has touched upon the key point. According to dynastic regulations, gentry naturally enjoy tax exemptions. However, the gentry inevitably stretch the court's preferential treatment to its absolute limit—two hundred thousand percent, as it were. Those entitled to exemptions of a few shi claim a dozen shi; those entitled to a dozen claim hundreds. Master Xiong has surely heard of 'proxy registration'?"

Xiong Buyou recalled his study materials and nodded; the picture was becoming clearer.

"Has anyone recently sought to register their land under the Noble Group's protection?"

"That hasn't happened." As the primary liaison handling local matters, such news would have been reported to Xiong Buyou according to regulations.

"It will happen soon. On the eve of autumn tax collection, people will likely come. Master Wu is worried precisely about this, which is why he asked Private Secretary Wang to intercede with Master Xiong."

"Now I understand completely!" Xiong Buyou grasped the situation at last. The county feared that a swarm of "obstinate people" would shelter behind the Crossing Group's power to avoid paying autumn tax—hence Wang Zhaomin's urgent mission to negotiate payment terms.

If the Crossing Group were willing to take the lead in paying autumn tax, it would send shockwaves through every circle in Lingao. Those who had hoped to exploit the Crossing Group as a shield against payment would have to reconsider carefully.

However, Xiong Buyou sensed the matter wasn't so simple. He ventured casually:

"So this year's autumn tax will be difficult to collect?"

"Of course it will be difficult." Chen Minggang answered without hesitation. "Gentlemen probably understand that in a place like Lingao, far from the emperor, obstinate elements tend to be rather more brazen. Without a 'villain' to suppress them, getting things done isn't easy."

Xiong Buyou thought: And who might this "villain" be? Obviously the Gou brothers—those two had often handled grain tax collection for Lingao. They were the county's notorious "grain runners."

"Grain runners" weren't necessarily yamen runners; most were local "villains"—men with their own businesses or simply local ruffians. They all maintained connections with the Revenue Section clerks in the county yamen. When the yamen commenced grain collection, these runners would accompany official collectors to the countryside, seizing the opportunity to extort and grab benefits.

Initially, these "grain runners" served merely as muscle for the clerks. Over time, certain powerful local landlords and gentry became involved, using their rural influence to monopolize tax collection. They proceeded to bully commoners and squeeze peasants. After the imperial grain and national taxes were gathered, they inevitably enriched themselves handsomely. The more audacious ones would collect taxes from the common folk but pocket them without remitting to the government, causing the county to run arrears year after year. In the late Ming and early Qing, tax arrears in Jiangnan prefectures and counties were extraordinarily severe. When the Qing court moved to clear these old debts, someone remarked explicitly: the common folk don't owe taxes; those in arrears are all gentry and landlords who "contract tax farming."

Xiong Buyou knew the Gou brothers had for years undertaken grain tax collection for the county seat district and surrounding areas, profiting enormously.

Chen Minggang was fully aware that the Crossing Group had exterminated the Gou family—why mention this specifically? Xiong Buyou pondered, and a thought flashed through his mind: Could Chen Minggang be hinting that they, too, could enter the tax farming business?

This aligned perfectly with their intentions! Xiong Buyou felt a surge of excitement. If this clerk shared the same idea, they could put him to great use—and learn far more about Lingao's tax situation in the process.

But he didn't commit himself just yet, merely studying Chen Minggang with interest. This posture actually unnerved Chen Minggang somewhat—he had indeed intended to recruit the Crossing Group into undertaking the county's entire tax collection.

With the Crossing Group's prestige in Lingao, if they stepped forward—even just by lending their banner—it would be enough to make the whole county tremble with fear. And he could seize the opportunity to make a killing. The Gou brothers had been formidable in their time, but quite a few powerful gentry and landlords still refused to defer to them. With the Australians backing him, probably no one would dare refuse. His personal income would naturally expand dramatically.

As for the specific handling, the Australians knew nothing about Ming dynasty grain collection—let alone these visitors from across the seas. In the entire county, besides himself, only Private Secretary Wang understood these matters. And though Wang understood, he didn't possess the county's Fish Scale Registers. All specific operational affairs would still require his arrangement...

Thinking thus far, Chen Minggang felt almost giddy. With the "grain runner" backing of the Australians, with their mighty ships and sharp cannons, he could properly settle accounts with the families who had opposed him.

Chen Minggang planned to use this opportunity to fleece the county ruthlessly. Not only would ordinary commoners dare not complain, but even Wu Mingjin and Wang Zhaomin wouldn't have the courage to object. In any case, if the sky fell, the tall Australians would prop it up. If the Australians remained in Lingao for the long term—or even established their own territory and opened an office—his service as their tax collector would naturally make him a meritorious official. And if the imperial court eventually drove the Australians away, the blame for exorbitant levies would fall upon their heads.

"Master Xiong!" he called out.

"Oh, yes?" Xiong Buyou responded. "Old Eight! You mean you want us to be this 'villain'?"

Chen Minggang smiled but said nothing.

"I'll have to go back and discuss this," Xiong Buyou feigned hesitation. "This is a major matter."

"Isn't grain a major matter for the Noble Group as well?" Chen Minggang dropped a hint.

He had calculated this scheme over and over, convinced it was flawless. The key was persuading the Australians—which he felt wouldn't be difficult. For the Australians to establish themselves here, grain was fundamental. Their wasteland reclamation everywhere demonstrated their hunger for it. When they first arrived, they had summoned leaders from all villages and stockades in the county to levy grain and conscripts, conducting some "Reasonable Burden"—obviously indicating enormous demand. With such an opportunity to obtain substantial grain through legitimate means, why wouldn't they seize it?

"True, true." Xiong Buyou played his part to the hilt, baiting Chen Minggang to speak openly while showing hesitation on his face. "It's just that we're people from overseas, completely ignorant of Ming dynasty tax collection..."

"This, gentlemen need not worry about." Chen Minggang felt he had said enough and showed his hand directly.

"Good. With that assurance from you, Old Eight, I can make a definite report." Xiong Buyou cupped his hands in farewell.

Chen Minggang escorted him out respectfully. Watching him disappear into the distance, he returned to the private room. Just as he was about to order a snack to satisfy his hunger and calculate his next moves, his apprentice Zhou Qi suddenly burst in, shouting: "Master! Trouble!"

"What trouble?" Chen Minggang demanded, alarmed by his frantic appearance.

"Mistress—Mistress—" Zhou Qi stammered.

"What about Mistress?" Chen Minggang truly despised his shrewish wife, née Zhang. The woman's fierce temper was famous throughout the county seat. His family lived on the back street behind the county yamen, and nearly all their neighbors were clerks and runners serving in the county. When it came to cunning and trickery, few in ancient society could match yamen clerks—yet even this hardened group shook their heads at the mention of Chen Minggang's wife.

Chen Minggang cut an imposing figure locally, his word carrying considerable weight. But against this wife, he was utterly helpless. Her father had been the former Punishment Section clerk in Lingao County Yamen. Her elder brother now held the same position, and her younger brother was a runner in the Fast Squad. They were all birds of a feather. This was a network of relationships woven over generations; even if he loathed it, he had no choice.

"Mistress just went to make trouble at Qiuhong's place!"

"What?!" Chen Minggang shot to his feet. Qiuhong was a prostitute who had arrived from the mainland a few years ago. She ran a private brothel in the county seat to receive guests. After he took a fancy to her, she became his exclusive mistress. Chen Minggang was deeply infatuated with this outsider woman—so different from the local females. Fearful of his wife making scenes, he hadn't dared to keep her in the county seat itself. Instead, he had built a house about a li outside the city to settle her, purchased several bondmaids for her use, and specially arranged men to stand watch around the premises—first to prevent his wife's interference, and second to guard against libertines seducing Qiuhong and cuckolding him.