Chu Qiguang endured the immense pressure bearing down on him as he thought, Ding Daoxiao's attitude is also rather strange. Could it be that he supports the land reforms? But Qiao Zhi told me that both he and the Ding Clan are conservatives who not only oppose reform, but also go on to accumulate a great deal of land.

That's also the reason why Ding Daoxiao joins the Demon Vanquishing Department instead of continuing to ride on the Wu Clan's coattails. So the son of the reformist Wu Siqi is against the land reforms, while the conservative Ding Daoxiao is in support of the same reforms. If that's really the case, then there must be some very complicated factors at play here. It's a shame that Qiao Zhi doesn't know much about the underlying secrets of this conflict...

Unable to make sense of Ding Daoxiao's attitude, Chu Qiguang could only leave those questions for another time as he began, "As I was saying before, our incision point is in the fiend tax..."

Since the founding of the Great Han Empire, fiends had been rampant, and they were particularly active in the wilderness. In order to keep them in check and expand into the wilderness, the imperial court implemented the fiend tax, providing funds for the military to hunt fiends all over the empire.

Over time, as the number of fiends in the wilderness declined, there was no longer any need for the imperial court to employ the services of the military to hunt them. Instead, that task shifted to the Daoist temples and the Demon Vanquishing Department. The fiend tax was also taken and distributed by the local authorities, instead of being collectively submitted to the imperial court to be distributed from there. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The current year was the fifteenth year of the Yong'an Era. During the second year of the Yong'an Era, issues were discovered in Azure Sun County's taxation records, and an investigation was launched. In the end, it was determined that Azure Sun County owed its direct superior authority, the Northern Mountain Manor, one thousand and fifty one stones of summer grain in unpaid fiend tax. In order to make up for this, the county was ordered to submit an additional one thousand and fifty one stones of summer grain every year.

"This extra burden of one thousand and fifty one stones of grain in fiend tax should've been shouldered by the entire county, and it wouldn't have been too difficult. However, at the time, none of the scribes working in the county office's six ministries were from South Gully Town. Instead, they were all from the other twelve towns of Azure Sun County. Hence, they colluded together to place the new tax burden entirely on South Gully Town.

"The people of South Gully Town were kept in the dark, and they began submitting an extra one thousand and fifty one stones of summer grain in fiend tax every year. We are now in the fifteenth year of the Yong'an Era, and South Gully Town has been forced to bear this tax burden alone for thirteen years. As a result, the town has become increasingly impoverished. Meanwhile, the scribes of the six ministries have managed to pass down their positions to their own clansmen all this time, thereby maintaining a stranglehold over the six ministries.

"Even if someone identifies this problem, they push the blame back and forth, using bureaucracy to their advantage to stifle any complaints. As for the county magistrates, they don't care how the tax burden in the county is distributed as long as the total quota is met, and they also don't want to make enemies of the other twelve towns over this matter. If we expose this, the people of South Gully Town will undoubtedly stage an uprising."

Hao Wen's eyes lit up at the idea.

Essentially, what Chu Qiguang was proposing was that they start a rebellion against the imperial court and force the county magistrate to resign. This was a common strategy employed by the local wealthy clans of the Great Han Empire, so Hao Wen was very receptive to the idea.

However, Ding Daoxiao was less than convinced.

"That's not going to work, Chu Qiguang," he scoffed. "Just like you alluded to earlier, South Gully Town's financial situation is currently in dire straits. Even if there are a few wusheng among their ranks, they're not going to be able to form a significant movement. Even if they stage an uprising, He Wenyan can simply quell their resistance by force and continue forcing them to shoulder the extra fiend tax burden.

"How could an impoverished town like theirs possibly oppose the entire county office? Like you said, the current scribes of the six ministries all come from the other twelve towns, and there's no way He Wenyan would pit himself against those twelve towns just to stand up for South Gully Town."

"The additional fiend tax burden should be borne by the entire county, yet it's been dumped entirely on South Gully Town. Is it not the county magistrate's duty to push for tax equality and help the poor and underprivileged?" Chu Qiguang challenged as he looked directly at Ding Daoxiao.

"Did you not hear what Young Master Ding just said?" Hao Fulai scoffed disdainfully. "A mere South Gully Town won't—"

"Shush!" Hao Wen interjected, cutting him off. "You're just a foolish servant who doesn't know anything!"

Hao Fulai turned to Hao Wen with a dazed expression. He was furious, but he naturally didn't dare to direct his anger at his master, so he could only glower resentfully at Chu Qiguang.

By rebuking Hao Fulai as a foolish servant, Hao Wen was indirectly making the same insult to Ding Daoxiao, and that clearly didn't sit well with him.

However, Hao Wen completely failed to notice Ding Daoxiao's displeasure as he continued, "Tax equality is an initiative that aligns with national policy! He Wenyan is pushing for all of these reforms as part of national policy as well. If he wants to use national policy to exert pressure on us, then we can use the same thing against him! Not only do we have to rally the people of South Gully Town, we also have to write letters to the Northern Mountain Manor and the governor of Spirit Province! We're doing this to seek justice for the people of South Gully Town and to aid in the enforcement of tax equality!"

Ding Daoxiao wanted to further oppose the idea, but he couldn't find a valid argument. If the Wu Clan and Hao Clan began to rally the people of South Gully Town, then this could rapidly escalate into a significant conflict. All they would have to do was send a few rabble-rousers to aggravate the situation, and this could easily become a full-blown uprising. At that point, the imperial court would be forced to dismiss He Wenyan as a scapegoat.

After hearing what his father had to say, Hao Yongtai realized the brilliance of Chu Qiguang's idea, and he turned to him with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

"What do you think of this plan, Nephew Ding?" Hao Wen asked as he turned to Ding Daoxiao.

Ding Daoxiao's expression stiffened slightly, and he begrudgingly conceded, "It's a great idea. No matter how He Wenyan redistributes the tax burden, the other twelve towns are bound to be dissatisfied, so he'll be backed into a corner with no way out."

Hao Wen patted Chu Qiguang on the shoulder with a wide smile as he praised, "What a brilliant young man you are, Nephew Chu! You're using the very same national policy that He Wenyan relies on to push his agenda against him!"

Meanwhile, Ding Daoxiao silently observed Chu Qiguang with a dark look in his eyes.

"I'll tell Wu Wei your plan right away, and I'll get him to write a letter to Governor Li Peiqian of Spirit Province," Hao Wen said. "That way, there'll be pressure from above for He Wenyan to address this matter."

Prior to this, the Wu Clan's hands were tied, but if they could escalate this matter to the imperial court, then they would be able to make use of their power and influence there to sway the events in the county. The more Hao Wen thought about this, the more excited he became, and he immediately set off for the Wu Manor to share the good news with Wu Wei.

Before leaving, he ordered the servants to arrange a banquet and instructed Hao Yongtai to show Ding Daoxiao and Chu Qiguang proper hospitality.

Following Hao Wen's departure, Ding Daoxiao turned to Chu Qiguang with a smile and said, "I'm impressed that you were able to identify this gap in the taxation records."

"You're far too kind, Brother Ding," Chu Qiguang replied. "I get the feeling that you don't really support what the Wu Clan and the Hao Clan are doing. Why is that?"

Ding Daoxiao was taken aback by this question. He looked back at Chu Qiguang with a cold expression and asked, "Why do you think that?"