"Come on, come on, fellow villagers, please give me a hand and step aside. If there is a new announcement, please let me post it."
A government official walked out of the government office, held up a few pieces of rice paper, and spoke loudly.
The people who gathered outside the bulletin board obediently gave way to the government officials. They watched the government officials thank them all the way and stood in front of the bulletin board. Then they applied paste and pasted all the rice papers on them.
Su Meiniang was quite surprised and didn't understand why this government servant had such a kind attitude.
Especially the smile on her face and the gesture of constantly thanking her made Su Meiniang extremely surprised.
This was completely different from the domineering government officials she knew...
There was no time to think about it. As the new announcement was posted, the people who had just given up a road began to swarm up again.
Su Meiniang also looked at the new announcement curiously, but before she took a few glances, she was stunned by the content on the announcement.
"Special rectification notice regarding arbitrary charges in Heyang City?"
Su Meiniang muttered to herself, then took a deep breath and read the contents of the notice carefully.
As a result, the more I watched, the more surprised I became, and the more I watched, the more excited I became. In the end, I became uncontrollably excited.
You actually want to return part of the money that has been overcharged in recent years?
Are the officials in the government office suffering from depression and madness?
I've only heard of people asking for money, but I've never seen people spit out money...
What on earth is going on?!
Su Meiniang couldn't believe what she saw. After carefully staring at the first piece of rice paper and reading it again, she was sure that she had read it correctly!
The Heyang City Government Government really wants to refund a portion of the protection fees that each merchant has been forcibly collected by the street patrol officers every month!
This return ratio actually reached 50%!
And below the announcement, the return time is clearly stated, starting from the time the announcement is posted, until all returns are completed!
As for the return location, it’s within the government office!
If there are a large number of people applying for refund during a certain period of time, just queue up and maintain order.
Is this true or false?!
Su Meiniang was in a daze for a while, and when she saw that the people around her had started a heated discussion again, she couldn't help but feel angry.
Regardless of whether it is true or not, just go and see and you will know!
After trying her best to squeeze out of the crowd, Su Meiniang trotted back to her silk shop.
Then, in accordance with the requirements that I just saw in the announcement, I took the road guide issued by the Heyang government office to every Heyang citizen, as well as the house deed of the silk and satin shop itself and the business deed of the shop.
He jogged all the way back to the outside of the government office.
After regaining her composure out of breath, Su Meiniang walked into the main entrance of the government office in a rather uneasy mood.
The two government officials responsible for guarding the gate showed no intention of stopping it, which made Su Meiniang's extremely nervous mood relax a little.
This is the first time in her life that she has entered the government!
"Are you really allowed to come in? But...where should I go after coming in?"
Su Meiniang looked around in a panic and saw a government servant standing inside the main entrance, gesturing towards her with a smile on his face.
Subconsciously looking along the gesture, Su Meiniang found that there was a sign indicating the direction directly in front of her.
She hurriedly bowed to the yamen servant and thanked her, but the yamen servant hurriedly returned the greeting with a smile on her face, making Su Meiniang even more confused.
With no time to think about it, Su Meiniang began to follow the instructions on the sign.
After passing three signboards in total, we came to an open space.
There are several long tables placed in the open space, and in front of the long tables, there are more than a dozen empty chairs.
There were five clerks sitting behind the long table, and a dozen street patrol officers stood on both sides.
Su Meiniang walked forward with a nervous look on her face, and found that both the clerk and the street patrol officer had the same gentle smiles on their faces as the officer who showed her the way before.
This smile relieved Su Meiniang's nervousness extremely effectively.
"Girl, sit down, are you here to get money? Lu Yin, have you brought the house deed and business deed?"
A scribe gestured to Su Meiniang, who came forward, to sit down, and asked with a smile.
"Ah? I brought... I brought it."
Su Meiniang was a little dizzy. Are these chairs prepared for common people like us?
He timidly sat on the chair, took out the documents, and handed them to the clerk in front of him respectfully, but he still maintained considerable doubts in his heart.
She always felt that it was impossible for the government to return the money that had been taken away from her before, but she would be unwilling to give it a try.
So she decided that if the clerk in front of her made excuses not to give her money, then she would definitely not make a fuss!
It is true that if the people do not fight with the officials, they should leave immediately!
Just as this idea was floating in his mind, the clerk in front of him suddenly said: "Miss Su, I checked and found that your Su-style silk and satin shop was previously charged a protection fee of two taels per month. Due to statistical limitations,
We can currently only count the amount for the past ten years."
"The initial collection of protection fees was not as high as it is now. According to our statistics, the total amount of protection fees collected from the Soviet-style silk and satin shop in the past ten years was around two hundred guan. Although Lord Cheng Wei tried his best to recover it, it took a long time. After all,
There is no way to recover all the forcibly collected fees."
"So according to the regulations of Lord Chengwei, the return of the illegally collected protection fees this time will be based on half of the past statistics. This is your one hundred coins, please keep it. The Sihai Bank money tickets can be redeemed at any time."
With that said, the scribe handed a bill of one hundred guan denomination to Su Meiniang.
Ah?! Did you really give me money?! And it was so straightforward?! I... I wasn't dreaming, was I?
Su Meiniang looked at the money in front of her stupidly, feeling in a daze for a moment.
Is this still the government she knew?
It’s just that everyone is extremely kind, but they actually keep their word?
Aren't the government always less reasonable than the bandits?
"Miss Su? Are you okay?"
Seeing Su Meiniang in a daze, the scribe couldn't help but ask strangely.
"Ah? Ah! It's okay, it's okay. This money...is it really for me?"
Su Meiniang came back to her senses, but still did not dare to take the money in front of her and asked timidly.
"This is your money. If not, who will give it to you?"
The scribe said dumbfounded.
Only then did Su Meiniang feel relieved, and she reached out her hand to take the money ticket with a slight trembling. She was so excited that she couldn't control herself for a moment.
Suddenly, I thought of something again. After rummaging around on my body, I took out a ten-guan note and handed it to the scribe.
He said sincerely: "I'm really bothering you, sir. For this little money, just treat me as a treat for you to drink. I hope you don't dislike it."
She really did this from the bottom of her heart, without any reluctance.
Although she didn't have much contact with people in the government, Su Meiniang was not an ignorant person after having opened a silk and satin shop for more than a year.
Understand that when dealing with people from the government, you still have to abide by these rules.
What's more, he found a hundred strings for himself!