Chapter 42: Negotiating the Jingzhe Tax
Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Negotiating the Jingzhe Tax
"That’s not it."
Zhu Ge just shook his head, then looked up at the tall and imposing spectral form of the Tiger God.
"Mountain Monarch, our Jianshan Village only wishes to live here in peace. Our teacher has never encroached upon your territory. Why must you press us so hard?"
His voice was neither servile nor overbearing, yet it held a firm confidence.
A Second-Realm Yu the Scholar and a Second-Realm Xigui—by any measure, they were no weaker than the Tiger God.
Furthermore, it wasn’t certain that Mr. Chong would help the Tiger God, so Zhu Ge had no reason to be afraid.
In the jungle, a bluff was one way to drive off external threats.
If they showed any fear, they would attract endless covetousness and hostility.
"I’m not here to pressure you."
The Tiger God’s voice carried a trace of coldness.
But perhaps because of Zhu Ge and Yu the Scholar’s firmness and confidence, or perhaps because Zhu Ge’s words had given it a way out, its tone did indeed soften:
"It’s just that your filthy teacher has not returned, so I must speak with you two..."
"If you speak ill of our teacher one more time, I will see us both destroyed on this very spot!" Yu the Scholar suddenly exploded with rage.
A brilliant white light burst from his eyes. The *Notes on the Jianshan Terraces* in his hand slowly began to float, its pages fluttering open with a rapid RUSTLE.
"You dare say that again?! I will spill my blood right here!" Yu the Scholar roared.
This startled Mr. Chong. "Why are you as crazy as your teacher!?"
The Tiger God’s aura froze for an instant.
Zhu Ge simply moved to stand silently beside Yu the Scholar, the red glow from his body growing ever more brilliant.
’At critical moments, you cannot show weakness.’
’The crazy fear the stubborn, and the stubborn fear the desperate.’
’To survive, you must not be afraid of death!’
And just then, the Tiger God froze.
"...So be it." The Tiger God’s aura wavered, and then it spoke in a grim voice:
"Jingzhe is approaching. When the Jingzhe Official of your Human Race arrives in person, remember to keep your mouths clean. Otherwise, there will be no place for you in this region..."
With that, the Tiger God’s spectral form vanished inch by inch from mid-air, leaving only some fur and shredded flesh from the calico cat on the ground.
"Jingzhe Official?" Zhu Ge paused, looking at Yu the Scholar.
Yu the Scholar’s face was now devoid of anger, as if his earlier outburst had been an illusion.
He gave Zhu Ge a slight nod. "I’ll tell you when we get back."
Then he turned to Mr. Chong and said, "I will report this incident truthfully. I won’t go out of my way to speak ill of you or the Tiger God."
Mr. Chong nodded.
"I’m not worried about that. It’s useless even if you do speak ill of me. I’m a demon. I can burrow into the forest where you’ll never find me. But the Tiger God’s Believers are all in this forest. It can’t run, so naturally, it’s afraid."
Yu the Scholar said nothing in response, instead bowing with his hands clasped to Mr. Chong. "Thank you for your earlier help, Mr. Chong."
However, despite his respectful thanks, his legs were shaking uncontrollably.
Mr. Chong couldn’t help but ask in surprise, "What are you shaking for?"
Yu the Scholar waved his hand awkwardly. "It’s nothing, nothing. I’ve just overexerted myself these past two days."
Mr. Chong had a flash of realization. "Ah, of course. You two are mentally and physically exhausted. That’s normal. If there’s nothing else, I’ll be on my way."
"Oh, by the way, let me tell you a secret, young Zhu Ge. That Mountain Monarch’s true form is just a calico cat. It’s most afraid of being looked down on."
"So now you know why young Xiaoyu was acting so tough, eh? Haha! Still, you should be more careful when you run into other Second Realm beings in the future. I’m off!"
After speaking, Mr. Chong gave Zhu Ge a slight nod, then pushed off the ground with his strong, slender hind legs, leaping into the air and flying away on beating wings.
Watching Mr. Chong disappear into the distance, Yu the Scholar couldn’t help but wipe non-existent beads of sweat from his brow. He said to Zhu Ge, "Let’s go, let’s go. We can talk on the way."
Zhu Ge didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "You’re really that scared of bugs!"
Yu the Scholar shot Zhu Ge a glare. "Isn’t there anything you’re afraid of? That creature is so hideous! Look at its mouth, look at those hands and the stiff bristles on them! It’s truly terrifying!"
"Also..." Yu the Scholar said pensively, "Our teacher said that Mr. Chong doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe. If we’re stronger than him, he’s friendly. If we’re weaker, he wouldn’t mind an extra meal. You must not trust him blindly."
"I know." Zhu Ge felt a chill internally.
He remembered how Mr. Chong had wanted to enter the village earlier, but Zhu Ge had refused.
It seemed now that while Mr. Chong appeared amicable on the surface, it was only a facade.
"Right, what’s the connection between Jingzhe and an official?" Zhu Ge asked.
Hearing this, Yu the Scholar frowned slightly. "I’d forgotten about it as well. Our teacher is basically our village head. And every year before Jingzhe, the village head needs to go to the city to pay taxes. The deadline is just before Jingzhe."
"They’re also afraid of having no harvest after Jingzhe, since bugs are everywhere then."
"Thus, the official post is called: Jingzhe Official."
Yu the Scholar seemed to imagine the mountains and fields swarming with bugs and couldn’t help but shiver.
When Zhu Ge heard this, he understood.
Taxes weren’t necessarily paid only in silver. Most villages and towns didn’t actually have silver, so they could only pay with grain.
"Then in our current situation, how much tax do we have to pay?" Zhu Ge frowned slightly.
The Da Sheng Dynasty was a dying beast, but not yet dead. It was a thousand-year dynasty, after all. Although the Central Courtyard had collapsed, some semblance of order remained.
It was just like the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.
Except now, each city governed itself, and these officials came from within those cities.
For example, Jianshan Village was under the jurisdiction of Yuan Yang City and also under its protection...
Theoretical protection, that is.
Zhu Ge wasn’t opposed to Yuan Yang City. The Human Race was in a precarious state, and they couldn’t afford to be killing each other. More importantly, there shouldn’t be any cases of the strong preying on the common people.
But he didn’t dare bet on human nature.
’There’s nothing new under the sun.’
’What if they see that we’re just a handful of people and decide to wipe us out, then claim everything in the village for themselves?’
Besides, even if they had to pay taxes, how much would it be?
He had actually planned to concentrate all the village’s best resources on their small group.
The former villagers had basically eaten only one meal a day, not three. Their bodies couldn’t get enough nutrition.
But now that they were going to practice Martial Arts and study the Confucian Dao, they had to eat their fill to supply their bodies with the massive amount of energy needed to repair muscle and promote growth.
Three meals a day would be too few. Given their emaciated state, they would probably need at least five meals a day.
In that case, they’d have to hide some of the grain in advance.
"There’s no use hiding it. The Jingzhe Official decides how much tax you pay. You can’t hide anything from them," Yu the Scholar said, shaking his head.
"Those who can move about freely around Yuan Yang City are all Third Realm existences."
"I didn’t know what the Third Realm meant before, but thinking back now, our teacher did mention it..."
"Third Realm cultivators can develop their own Divine Sense!"
"First Realm condenses Qi, Second Realm condenses Heart, Third Realm condenses Will! Once you reach the Third Realm and condense your Divine Sense, you can sweep it over an area, and nothing can remain hidden."
"Third Realm? Taxes?" Zhu Ge’s brow furrowed deeply. "A tax amount determined by the Jingzhe Official based on the situation?"
He had a feeling this might be one of the main reasons for the Da Sheng Dynasty’s decline.
Of course, just "might be" and "one of."
A powerful dynasty should, by all rights, have a strong tolerance for error.
If it was declining, it only proved that the "errors" had piled up beyond its capacity to tolerate them.
"Correct." Yu the Scholar sighed. "More people and less grain means you pay less. Fewer people and more grain means you pay more."
Zhu Ge: "Then in our case, wouldn’t they..."
Yu the Scholar nodded. "If the Jingzhe Official finds that there are only six of us but we have a whole village’s worth of grain, most of it will be confiscated. After all, people are starving everywhere."
Hearing this, Zhu Ge added, "Then is it possible for the six of us to go live in Yuan Yang City and just give them all the grain?"
At this, Yu the Scholar paused, then shook his head and continued walking. "Going to Yuan Yang City is impossible... but now that you mention it, they might actually bring villagers from the city here instead."
"Bring villagers here?" Zhu Ge hadn’t considered that possibility. "That makes sense. Our Jianshan Village has houses, food, and fertile fields. It’s definitely possible!"
"Yes." Yu the Scholar’s voice was heavy. "However, since we are part of the Human Race, it’s only right that we take some people in. I just hope we can protect what we have."
More people meant a bigger target, and the possibility of problems would also increase. This was likely how Ma Laizi was taken advantage of when they were vulnerable.
Unlike now, with only six people in total, they could tell if anything was wrong with any one of them.
With more people, it would be impossible to keep an eye on everyone.
"By the way, if the Jingzhe Official comes to inspect and collect taxes every year, how did that Fungus God dare to keep humans in a pen?" Zhu Ge asked curiously.
"Because it didn’t know? It wasn’t acquainted with the Tiger God and the others, so naturally, it wouldn’t know a Jingzhe Official comes every year," Yu the Scholar guessed.
"Or perhaps it thought that by devouring you and me, it could reach the Third Realm and wouldn’t have to fear the Jingzhe Official? I don’t know. But from what I know of past years, our Jingzhe Official, Lord Pei, is not weak."
"If the Fungus God were still here, it probably would have been slain in an instant."
"Alright, I’m heading back. I’m going to practice some Martial Arts, too. You were right; when the methods of the Confucian Dao don’t work, having another skill gives you another option."
Yu the Scholar waved his hand in farewell.
"Alright. I’ll get back to cultivating the *Great Sun Glaze Body*." After parting ways with Yu the Scholar on the mountainside, Zhu Ge returned to his coffin, lay down, and closed his eyes.
Time to continue cultivating!