Surviving In The Ancient Times With Limitless Supplies
Chapter 198: It’s Good Not To Be Too Honest

Chapter 198: It’s Good Not To Be Too Honest

The captain felt much better after hearing her words. Every time he went to collect taxes, the villagers would secretly scold him. If the villagers were more stubborn and vicious, they would throw stones at him and his subordinates, and refuse to listen to their explanation.

Life was not easy for them either, but they had no choice but to do as they were ordered or be beheaded. The captain’s impression of Xu Xiang improved a lot after that. Looking at her, his tone softened and his expression became much more cordial.

"Young Lady, I know everyone has difficulties. I didn’t mean to target your village, but I have my orders. If I fail to complete my mission, then I and all my subordinates will be beheaded. We only do this because we have no choice. We also have families that we want and need to protect. I hope you understand and cooperate with us." He said helplessly.

Seeing the captain’s helpless face and the sad faces of the soldiers standing behind him, Xu Xiang said calmly: "Before I pay the taxes, I want to see one thing."

The captain nodded and said, "What do you want to see?"

"Can I see the official tax collecting announcement issued by the government?" She asked politely.

As soon as her question came out, the captain’s smile froze. Xu Xiang noticed the changes in the captain and soldiers’ expressions, and asked, "Is there something wrong? We can’t see it?"

The captain smiled stiffly at her and said, "Ah... Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the announcement issued by the government. How about you pay the tax first, and I will send someone to bring the official announcement for you."

With a troubled expression on her face, she whispered in a voice that was loud enough for the captain to hear clearly.

"What should I do? The elders will not pay taxes without seeing the official tax collecting announcement."

She raised her eyes to look at the captain and said, "Officer, you must know that the older a person is, the more stubborn he is. Without the permission of our village chief and elders, I dare not hand over the money to you."

As soon as she said this, Qi Nu’a, who was standing behind her, glanced at her. There was a rare smile in his pair of cold eyes.

’Miss Xu Xiang seems to be honest, but in fact she has a lot of schemes. Mhm. It’s good not to be too honest.’

The captain frowned, and suddenly felt that he was caught between a rock and a hard place. No matter what he thought, he still couldn’t make a choice. He couldn’t show her the official taxation announcement, and he also couldn’t go back without the money. He wanted to force them to pay, but looking at those fierce villagers behind the young lady, he really didn’t have the courage.

Not knowing what to do, he said, "How about you pay first, then I will go back and report to the county magistrate?"

Hearing his words, the corners of Xu Xiang’s lips curled up slightly. She lowered her eyes and said nothing.

After a long silence, she said, "Well... After searching all valuables in the village, we only have fifty taels of silver in total. I hope this is enough to pay our taxes."

When the captain heard that she could only take out fifty taels of silver, he almost fainted on the spot.

He opened his lips and said in a trembling voice: "Young Lady, you must be joking. You have to pay a total of thirty-four thousand taels of silver, but you said that all the money in your village is only fifty taels of silver? How can I report to the county magistrate? This... This... I’m going to lose my head, ah."

Seeing that the captain was about to cry, Xu Xiang calmly said, "But... That is all we have. Even if you kill us, we can’t give any more money."

She then thought for a moment and said, "Officer, didn’t you say that we can pay with food and water?"

The captain nodded quickly and said, "Yes, yes. Do you want to pay with food and water instead? As long as the value of the food and water is equal to what you need to pay in taxes, that should be fine."

"Well... We have a well. If you don’t mind, we want to pay with water instead. What do you think? Can we do that?" She asked with a slight smile.

The value of water was calculated rapidly in the captain’s mind. Now a bucket of water is worth one tael in the market. But the real value of a bucket of water after the Battle of Lin Zi City has exceeded two taels of silver.

If he can get thirty-four thousand buckets of water from these villagers, then he can make a fortune by selling the water. After submitting the tax money to the county magistrate, he should still have more than thirty-four thousand taels of silver left! With so much money, his and his subordinates’ family can survive for a year or two.

The captain couldn’t hide his smile after counting the money. He nodded at Xu Xiang and said, "Fine. Seeing that you are being sincere, then I will take water as your tax payment."

After he agreed, Xu Xiang said, "Please wait here while we get the water ready."

"All right. I will prepare the empty barrels too." He said happily.

He turned to look at the soldiers, and said, "Quickly go get the empty barrels. Find as much as you can get."

The soldiers know that water is very expensive now. If they did get thirty-four thousand buckets of water, they could get a share of it when their captain sold it all. Thinking of this, the soldiers immediately regained their spirits.

The soldiers clasped their fists and said in unison: "This subordinate follows orders."