MLMD -Chapter 193 Control of the Tax Revenues

“Your Excellency, congratulations, congratulations! In a single battle you wiped out more than two thousand bandits and captured over a thousand more. It was a great victory indeed!”

Inside Yue Yang’s main hall, Prefect Jiang Xin, along with all the officials, gentry, and merchants of Hunyuan Prefecture, had gathered together, cramming the already small reception room to the brim.

News that Yue Yang had dispatched cavalry in the middle of the night and annihilated several thousand enemies quickly spread back to Hunyuan. Only then did Jiang Xin and the others learn that the bandits had actually stationed a force of troops just over fifty li away from the city. The realization made them all break out in cold sweat.

The roving rebels had hidden a cavalry unit right under their noses, and even sent agents into the city to incite the refugees and prepare an uprising. If the rebels had succeeded, the heads on all of their shoulders would have had to move to another place.

Thankful that they had narrowly escaped disaster, Jiang Xin immediately brought his subordinate officials and the local gentry and merchants to Yue Yang’s residence to offer their congratulations. Of course, they didn’t come empty‑handed—everyone brought some kind of gift, more or less. Yue Yang, as always, had no intention of refusing such things, and accepted them all without ceremony.

After inviting Jiang Xin and the others to take their seats, Yue Yang chatted with him for a while, and Jiang Xin’s mood gradually eased.

To be honest, Jiang Xin’s original impression of Yue Yang had not been good. In his eyes, Yue Yang was overbearing, domineering, unreasonable, and—most importantly—far too fond of killing. When the troops had mutinied over unpaid wages some time ago, Yue Yang had chopped heads until they rolled. A man like that, Jiang Xin felt, was best suited to be an executioner.

But after everything that had happened, Jiang Xin had come to see things differently. Having such a killing god at his side was not necessarily a bad thing. In this turbulent age, at least he no longer had to worry about security. With such a fearsome figure in charge, anyone who wanted to set their sights on Hunyuan would have to think twice about whether they were up to it. Besides, Yue Yang was a military officer while he himself was a civil official; there was no fundamental conflict of interest between them. As a result, Jiang Xin now found Yue Yang increasingly agreeable.

Looking at Jiang Xin’s smiling face and the crowd of gentry and merchants, Yue Yang’s heart stirred. Smiling, he said to Jiang Xin, “Prefect Jiang, you’ve come at just the right time. I have a few matters I’d like to discuss with you.”

A trace of surprise flashed in Jiang Xin’s eyes. “Oh? If Lord Yue has something to say, please speak freely.”

Yue Yang said, “This recent incident was a real wake‑up call for me. The rebel bands led by Chuangni are best at inciting refugees to surround and attack government offices. If they hadn’t exposed themselves this time, we wouldn’t even have known they had already slipped into the city. If they’d succeeded, I’m afraid all of us here would have died without even a place to be buried. So I’ve been thinking—if we don’t resolve the refugee problem, we’ll never have any peace in the days ahead.”

Jiang Xin sighed. “How could I not want to solve the refugee problem? But even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice. To resettle these refugees, we need money and grain, seeds, farming tools, and draft animals. But the government simply doesn’t have any of those.”

Already expecting this answer, Yue Yang smiled slightly. “What you say is true, Prefect Jiang. The government doesn’t have those things—but the gentry sitting here do. It seems we’ll have to thicken our faces today and ask them for a donation.”

“This…” Jiang Xin hesitated. “Will that work?”

After more than twenty years in office, Jiang Xin knew these gentry and merchants all too well. Asking them to contribute a little grain for porridge might be possible, but asking them to open their purses to resettle refugees? Heh… forget it. They would rather throw their silver into a river than give it to destitute refugees.

Seeing Jiang Xin’s hesitation, Yue Yang sneered. “Prefect Jiang, things have already come to this. What are you still hesitating about? As long as these refugees are not properly settled, they’ll keep crowding into the city day after day. Even if we had a mountain of gold, they’d eat it all up. In that case, why not settle them sooner rather than later? Once we give them grain, tools, seeds, and land, they will turn into law‑abiding commoners useful to the Great Ming. No matter how crafty the rebels are, without refugees to drive and exploit, they’ll become rootless duckweed and no longer pose a threat to us.”

“The idea is good,” Jiang Xin said bitterly, “but putting it into practice is extremely difficult.” This Yue Yang could talk endlessly about principles, but did he really think governing was as simple as fighting a battle?

Yue Yang shot him a sideways glance. “Prefect Jiang, I know you’re in a difficult position. You’re worried about the money, aren’t you?”

Jiang Xin rolled his eyes—he obviously knew it, so why ask?

The two leaned together, whispering in low voices. Everyone below desperately wanted to know what they were discussing, but no one dared to come closer and eavesdrop.

Yue Yang glanced at the crowd, who were pretending to talk quietly while all pricking up their ears. Smiling faintly, he turned serious and asked, “Prefect Jiang, let me ask you something. How much commercial tax does Hunyuan City collect in a year?”

“Tax?” Jiang Xin froze for a moment, then his expression turned strange. He looked at Yue Yang and thought, Is this fellow really stupid, or just pretending? Everyone knows this—why is he asking?

Catching Jiang Xin’s puzzled look, Yue Yang casually glanced toward a certain corner of the hall, then said lightly, “How about this: Prefect Jiang, why don’t you hand over the tax revenues to me? Let me be responsible for collecting the prefecture’s taxes, and we’ll use them to resettle the refugees. What do you think?”

“What? You want to take over tax collection?” Jiang Xin was startled and hurriedly said, “That won’t do! Tax collection is the government’s authority. How could it be handed over to you?”

Yue Yang gave him a sidelong look. “Then may I ask, Prefect Jiang, in the two years you’ve been in Hunyuan, how much tax have you collected in total?”

“This…” At that, Jiang Xin wilted like a frost‑stricken eggplant. Lowering his head, he muttered, “Less than three thousand taels in total…”

“Three thousand taels?” Yue Yang sneered. “What an impressive sum—it’s truly terrifying. Now I finally understand why Hunyuan is so impoverished. So the imperial taxes that should go to the court have all been turned into favors by Your Excellency and given away.”

“Outrageous nonsense!” Jiang Xin slammed the table with a loud bang.

The sudden noise startled everyone in the hall, which immediately fell silent as all eyes turned toward them.

Only then did Jiang Xin realize he had lost his composure. His old face flushed red as he waved his hand. “It’s nothing. I was discussing matters with Lord Yue and got a bit emotional. There’s no need for everyone to mind it.”

Yue Yang looked at him with a half‑smile. “Why be angry, Prefect Jiang? Am I wrong?”

“You—” Jiang Xin frowned, then slowly calmed down. With a sigh, he said, “Lord Yue, you know the situation. The entire court is like this—how could I be an exception?”

Yue Yang grinned slyly. “Which is precisely why you should hand this matter to me. I guarantee that if the commercial taxes are collected by me, I’ll be able to settle those refugees smoothly.”

“You’ll resettle them?” Jiang Xin frowned. “Lord Yue, there are tens of thousands of refugees. How much could the commercial taxes amount to? Don’t try to deceive me.”

“If you don’t believe me, we can draw up a written agreement. That should satisfy you, shouldn’t it?”

Jiang Xin stared at Yue Yang for several minutes, then pondered for a long time. At last, he slowly nodded.

“Very well. I’ll trust you this once. Starting tomorrow, I’ll withdraw all the clerks from the Tax Office and let your people take over. You’d better not go back on your word.”

Yue Yang smiled like a fox that had just stolen a chicken.

“Rest assured, Prefect. Leave the refugees to me…”