The little boy bravely said: "But...but you have to give me a copper coin first..."
"Why?" Chai Yan asked.
The little boy raised his chin and said with good reason: "What if you coax me? I'll finish talking in a while, and you won't give me money anymore..."
Chai Yan smiled and said: "You little devil, Xiao Jiujiu is much better!"
So, Chai Yan took out a copper plate from his palm, handed it to the little boy, and then said: "Are you relieved now?"
The little boy happily held the copper coins and said: "My family is poor and has no money to pay the bandit suppression tax, so I want to help make some money..."
Chai Yan was very surprised after hearing this. He didn't expect that the child's purpose for asking for money was to pay the bandit suppression tax.
"Is the tax collector in your house now?" Chai Yan asked.
The little boy shook his head and said: "No, my grandfather just sold the things at home a few days ago and paid the tax. These are what I prepared for next time."
Chai Yan asked again: "Then how much money do you make now?"
The little boy said disappointedly: "No... not much, just... you just give me money..."
This result is almost consistent with what Chai Yan thought. This kid uses this method to make money. He will be lucky if he doesn't get beaten!
Chai Yan sighed slightly, and after giving another copper coin to the little boy, he took out a piece of broken silver from his purse and asked, "Do you want it? This piece of silver is enough for you and your grandfather to pay taxes twice."
!”
The little boy hesitated for a moment, then looked at the broken silver and nodded.
Chai Yan then said: "I can give it to you, but you have to promise me that you won't make money like this in the future. This is called blackmail, do you understand?"
The little boy seemed not to understand the meaning of blackmail and looked at Chai Yan blankly.
Chai Yan solemnly said: "Child, you met me today. If you met someone with a bad temper, and he got angry and beat you up, wouldn't you suffer a big loss?"
The little boy immediately lowered his head and stopped talking. It could be seen from his face that he was actually worried about meeting such a person.
Chai Yan gave the money to the little boy and warned: "Put the money away and give it to grandpa when you go home. Remember, you are not allowed to do this again in the future. Do you understand?"
For a ten-year-old child, it is useless to talk too much about big principles. Just stop him from continuing.
"I know." The little boy nodded.
"Okay, go home quickly!"
As soon as Chai Yan finished speaking, the little boy turned around and ran away, his back looking very happy.
After the little boy left, Chai Yan was no longer in the mood to enjoy the cool air, so he got up and headed to the southern camp.
When we arrived at the camp gate, there happened to be another soldier named Feng Bin on duty.
As soon as Feng Bin saw Chai Yan arriving, he immediately stepped forward and said: "Master Chai, you are here..."
"Ah, here we come..." Chai Yan said with a smile: "I'm looking for you Captain Liu, please go in and report."
Feng Bin blurted out: "Master Chai, Lieutenant Liu said early on that if you come, you can just go in directly. There is no need to communicate back and forth."
Chai Yan nodded with a smile and said: "Okay, I'll go in directly..."
"Master Chai, Lieutenant Liu is at the martial arts field. You can see him as soon as you enter." Feng Bin said.
"Yes." Chai Yan responded and stepped into the camp gate.
After walking through the camp gate for a while, there was an open space in front of us. This was the place where the soldiers of the South Camp practiced martial arts.
At this time, many soldiers in the South Camp were sweating profusely and practicing hard on the martial arts field, and the atmosphere was very high and fiery.
While watching the soldiers drill, Chai Yan walked slowly along the perimeter of the martial arts field, while also looking for Liu Hongxuan's figure in the crowd.
Suddenly, Chai Yan spotted a familiar figure in a corner of the martial arts field. It was Zhang Youde who entered the camp last night!
At this time, Zhang Youde was standing shirtless and motionless under the scorching sun. It seemed that he was taking a military posture, but his body movements were far from the standard military posture in Chai Yan's mind. It felt more like standing still.
Be more relevant!
Chai Yan did not let Zhang Youde notice him, but just watched from a distance. Seeing that his expression was always very determined, Chai Yan couldn't help but nodded secretly.
Just when Chai Yan stopped and looked at Zhang Youde, Liu Hongxuan suddenly walked over from the front.
"Master Chai, are you coming to see Zhang Youde so soon?" Liu Hongxuan said with a smile.
Chai Yan also smiled and asked: "Liu Xiaowei, Zhang Youde, is this kid... okay?"
Liu Hongxuan glanced at Zhang Youde and said: "That's right, I've been standing for almost two hours and I haven't fallen down yet..."
Liu Hongxuan told Chai Yan that Zhang Youde had just entered the barracks and would not allow him to participate in drills in the first few days. He would first adapt to it and feel the atmosphere in the barracks, and then he would be taught formation tactics, boxing techniques, and weapons.
You have to take it step by step, there is no rush!
Chai Yan strongly agrees with Liu Hongxuan's point of view.
The two stood at the edge of the martial arts arena and chatted for a while, then Liu Hongxuan invited: "Master Chai, it's hot, come and sit in my tent."
"Please!" Chai Yan said politely.
Soon, the two came to Liu Hongxuan's tent.
The two parties sat down and exchanged a few words, and then a soldier brought tea.
Chai Yan took a sip of tea and saw that there was no one else in the tent, so he asked Liu Hongxuan softly: "Liu Xiaowei, regarding the suppression of bandits and taxes..."
When Liu Hongxuan heard Chai Yan ask this, his gentle smile gradually faded, and he frowned and asked: "Master Chai, are you here to investigate the suppression of bandit taxes?"
Chai Yan also put away his smile, looked into Liu Hongxuan's eyes, and said seriously: "Why, can't we check it?"
Liu Hongxuan avoided Chai Yan's eyes, and after thinking for a moment, he said: "Master Chai, let's put it this way, it's not that it's impossible to check, but it's not necessary to check!"
"How do you say this?" Chai Yan became serious.
Liu Hongxuan said: "Master Chai, I will not hide this from you. In fact, I strongly oppose the collection of bandit suppression taxes from the common people, but General Jiang did not listen to my opinion, so I can only follow the order."
After all, the Ministry of War has tacitly approved the taxation!"
Chai Yan thought to himself, no wonder the bandit suppression tax could be collected so blatantly, it turned out to be with the permission of the Ministry of War!
After a while, Liu Hongxuan shook his head helplessly, sighed softly, and said: "Oh, there is nothing we can do about it! The Yaozhou Guard Camp has always been short of money and food. Let's talk about military pay. The payment is delayed every month for the longest time.
Once the payment was delayed for almost three months, without collecting the bandit suppression tax, how could our Fourth Battalion be wasting our time here?"
Chai Yan looked worried and said: "But Liu Xiaowei, how can the common people endure such frequent taxes? How can they live?"
Following these words, Chai Yan also told Liu Hongxuan what he had just met under the shade of a tree.
Liu Hongxuan was filled with emotion after hearing this. He shook his head and sighed twice, his expression even more helpless...
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