This is also the main reason for the farming family’s plight and the hardship of the villagers. The Governnt Office collects one layer of tax, the bandits collect another, and finally, the Noble Families and local landlords scrape one more layer, forcing the farming folks to struggle in the fields and toil day and night for their livelihood.
Even so, at the end of the year, after all the parties have peeled their share, there is still very little left.
If it’s a bountiful year, it’s still bearable, and they can barely get by.
But if it’s a year of disaster, selling fields and land, selling children and daughters, and even unspeakable things are inevitable.
Divine Beings?
Yes, in this world, three feet above the head, there are indeed Divine Beings!
But even they cannot escape taxation!
The Court is the master of human dao, and the Emperor is its ruler. Without paying taxes to support the ruler, even Divine Beings can’t protect you, otherwise, it would be rebellion. When heavenly soldiers arrive, they are sure to break the mountain and the temple, whether you are a land god, a mountain god, or a county city god, the imperial power will crush them down from their divine altar.
Court taxation is unavoidable, extortion by bandits is unavoidable, because those mountain bandits and robbers often have evil ghosts and demons supporting them. Not just villagers, but even local Divine Beings have to spend money to avert disasters, offering incense silver coins to bandits, otherwise, they will slaughter villages, kill people, and break mountains and temples.
As for the final local tyrants, the Divine Beings can slightly influence them, but only slightly. If pressured too much, these local tyrants can also fiercely retaliate, causing chaos even among local Divine Beings.
Thus, so minor local gods have limited effect, barely providing protection to their subjects, and even they themselves are heavily oppressed, living wretchedly (referencing the land and mountain gods in Journey to the West, who were oppressed by various demons and monsters).
Of course, if one is not a minor god or has so backdrop support, then that’s a different story.
But to be mingling in poor rural lands and remote mountain regions, how many have backing support?
It’s a dilemma unresolved for countless years.
Even in Little Huang Village, where the land is efficacious, facing such difficult challenges, people don’t think of Divine Beings, showing preconceived notions at work.
"What should we do now?"
"How about reporting to the Governnt Office?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"By the ti they co, the cabbages will have long cooled!"
"Or let’s spend money to avert the disaster, talk to those bandits, offer them more grain, rice, wine, and at, but spare the people?"
"Who will talk to them? Is there any bandit willing to talk nicely in the world?"
"Damn it, if worst cos to worst, we’ll fight them!"
"Yes, aren’t we Little Huang Village with hundreds of people afraid of just one Black Wind Village?"
"We’ve trained martial arts with the two Instructors for so long, not for nothing. Let’s see whose swords and spears are more fearso, ours or theirs!"
"I think we should still spend money to avert the disaster, when fighting, how many lives will be lost, those bandits of Black Wind Village are bloodthirsty hardheads..."
The crowd was in a heated discussion, so advocated for war, so for peace, and even soone suggested reporting to the Governnt Office, but nobody ntioned the Divine Beings.
Such noisy commotion yielded no results, and finally, two n stood out, suppressing the crowd behind them with words, and cast their gaze at Song Wen in front of the Land God Temple: "Village Chief, what’s your decision?"
Two middle-aged n, each as leaders, with a group behind them gathering support.
"Lu Xuan!"
"Huang Lin!"
Seeing the two stand out, Song Wen closed his eyes slightly.
These years, Little Huang Village developed rapidly, attracting many people to join.
Because the Governnt Office has a household registration system and subjects cannot migrate freely, these people mostly co from three sources.
First, Song Family spent a fortune, attracting tenant farrs and long-term workers, and even household servants, along with won from ten villages joining through marriage into Little Huang Village.
Second, Governnt Office relocation, a batch of villagers moved here to help Little Huang Village rebuild.
Third, original inhabitants returned after dispersing when Little Huang Village was rebuilt.
These three residential parties form the three powers in Little Huang Village, respectively, Song Family who moved here at the orders of ancestor Shen Hex, Lu Family relocated by the Governnt Office, and Huang Family, the original master who fled and now returned.
Despite Shen Hex this ancestral deity above, and previously purchasing most of Little Huang Village’s land and property, the influx of these two powers still affected and impacted Song Family’s authority in Little Huang Village.
This could even be attributed to Shen Hex, because he didn’t overly support Song Family but treated everyone equally, even gave preferential treatnt, allowing Lu and Huang Families to firmly establish themselves in Little Huang Village.
Lu Xuan and Huang Lin are heads of their families, as patriarchs, their authority in Little Huang Village although not as much as Song Wen’s, they also wield so influence, stepping out now as leaders of their respective families.
Faced with the ball kicked back by the two, Song Wen squinted his eyes, and his gaze soon shifted, looking at the anxious and restless villagers.
"All of you have worked hard for a year, barely growing so grain and rice, not only to pay the Court’s taxes but also to offer tribute to the mountain bandits there. I ask you, can you accept this?"
"No, we cannot accept!"
The words just fell, Song Family mbers imdiately voiced their stance.
Lu Xuan and Huang Lin frowned, looked at each other, and did not speak, but the families behind them also appeared perplexed.
Song Wen was above, but he ignored, facing the crowd, continued speaking: "They now want us to give them people, want our n to serve them, want our won to be defiled by them, can you accept this?"
"No, no!"
Listening to this, mbers of Song Family voiced more fiercely, as Song Wu, Song Ying, and a group of Household Servants raised their sticks.
"That’s right, we cannot!"
Song Wen also confird decisively: "The grain we painstakingly grew, the livestock we responsibly raised, why should we offer it to them, not to ntion they want our wives and daughters for their pleasure and our descendants to die for them, what man can stand such indignation?"
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