Chapter 63 Conflict
Lu Guancheng sneered again and said, "Unbalanced? If it's not balanced, you can also go to the top of the city to repair the city wall. The monthly salary of one tael of silver is not less than what I pay here. You can also buy two dan of low-priced grain. Isn't it great?"

The waiter said awkwardly, "How can that be possible? I was thinking of following the shopkeeper to Qingzhou for refuge when the foreigners come to attack us!"

"How can I learn from these short-lived ghosts? I am afraid that I will have the life to buy food but not the life to eat it."

A hint of pride flashed across Lu Guancheng's face, and he said, "You are smart, kid. Let your wife come over tonight."

The guy was silent for a moment, then said unhappily, "Yes..."

While the two were talking, the returnees from Crescent Mountain and the people of Baicheng were cursing at each other across Chen He. The people with glasses became more and more excited, waving their kitchen knives and hoes several times, and almost hit Chen He. Suddenly, Xu Huang's loud shout was heard outside the crowd.

"His Royal Highness Prince Xin has arrived, all of you bastards, get out of here!"

Everyone turned around, and Chen He rushed out of the crowd as if he had seen a savior. He came in front of Wang An and whispered what had happened.

Without waiting for Wang An to express his opinion, the indigenous people and the returnees began to criticize each other and express their grievances.

Wang An was not in a hurry to express his opinion. He listened to the opinions of both sides silently and then came to the middle of the crowd.

He glanced around slowly, and the people on both sides, who had originally had fierce and violent looks, lowered their heads unconsciously, and no one dared to look at him.

After a moment of silence, Wang An first looked at the natives and said in a low voice: "Do you think the government is biased? Why do they sell affordable grain to these bandits but not to the people in this city?"

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the returned people from Crescent Mountain darkened. They thought that even His Royal Highness Prince Xin thought they were bandits, and a feeling of grievance and depression immediately surged in their hearts.

The people of Baicheng were immediately excited. Some raised their heads and responded, "We dare not interfere with the prince's decision, but these people are bandits from Crescent Moon Mountain who commit all kinds of evil. The prince is kind-hearted and has spared their lives, which is a great favor. How can he treat them so well?"

"Yeah yeah!"

The people of hundreds of cities immediately responded.

"My man died at the hands of bandits. We were lucky enough not to have them all captured and beheaded!"

Some even said with ulterior motives: "The money the government uses to buy grain is the tax paid by us common people. How can it not be spent on the people of Baicheng, but benefit the bandits instead?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people of Baicheng, who had just calmed down because of Wang An's appearance, suddenly became excited again.

Wang An glanced in the direction of the person who spoke. The man was startled and tried to run away immediately.

Wan An's eyes turned cold and he immediately ordered Xu Huang to capture the man.

The man was dressed as a shop assistant. As soon as Xu Huang caught him, he immediately shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, you can't retaliate against me just because I told the truth!"

As he spoke, he loudly encouraged the people of Baicheng: "Neighbors, I have spoken the truth for everyone. Please plead for me in front of the prince!"

Wang An's eyes became increasingly gloomy. Although this man spoke softly, every word he said was heart-wrenching.

Sure enough, the people around were becoming increasingly dissatisfied.

However, Wang An was not panicked at all. He just said coldly: "Since you said you paid taxes, then I would like to ask you, how much tax and grain did you pay this year?"

The man was speechless, his eyes rolled around as he said, "We work in the city and don't farm, so it's normal that we can't pay much tax."

“But just because I didn’t pay taxes doesn’t mean the neighbors didn’t pay taxes either!”

After saying that, he looked around.

However, when the people of Baicheng came into contact with his gaze, they all lowered their heads in guilt. The Daliang Dynasty was a typical agricultural country. In addition to a small amount of commercial taxes, its fiscal revenue mainly relied on agricultural taxes.

Moreover, the commercial tax is extremely low, only one percent of thirty.

Although the people of Baicheng also farm, the number is small. They mainly rely on various handicrafts and work for wealthy families and shops to make a living.

When it comes to paying taxes, they actually pay less than those in towns and villages.

Even so, because the land in Jizhou was too barren and the grain yield was low, the tax paid was naturally low.

However, because Jizhou had no money, even the official in the government office had been vacant for several years, and the city relied on local clerks to maintain its daily operations.

The leader, Chen He, is an honest official and it is rare to see him engage in brutal exploitation.

Therefore, the administration of Jizhou officials was rare and more honest than that of other prefectures and counties, and the matter of tax collection had never been heard of.

In this case, how much tax can the people of Baicheng pay?

Wang An snorted coldly and said, "Everyone who paid taxes this year, please stand up and tell us how much you paid."

Seeing that no one spoke, Goodnight snorted again:
"After arriving in Baicheng, I immediately looked at the tax account books of the government office. The taxes paid by the 50,000 people in Baicheng for the whole year were less than 1,000 taels of silver!"

"There are only one thousand taels, and there are still five hundred taels in arrears that have not been collected!"

"However," Wang An suddenly shouted, "Even so, I have never thought of raising taxes for you folks, but you are here trying to attract attention and stir up trouble!"

The man was so frightened that he fell to his knees, his face covered in sweat as he begged for mercy: "I am a humble man with limited knowledge, please forgive me, Your Majesty!"

Wang An did not punish the man immediately. Instead, his expression softened and he spoke earnestly: "What I wanted to tell you is that it is not important how much tax you pay. What is important is that as long as you are the people of Jizhou, you are my people. I will naturally treat you equally and will never favor one over the other."

Hearing this, some people in Baicheng stammered, "Why can the bandits buy the government's affordable grain, but we, the people of Baicheng, can't?"

Wan An frowned and said, "If anyone dares to say that the returnees from Crescent Moon Mountain are bandits, I will never let them off easily!"

"They are just a bunch of poor people struggling to survive. If they could have enough food to eat in their hometown, I believe no one would become a bandit!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the returnees from Yueya Mountain, who had originally had gloomy expressions, immediately raised their heads and looked at Wang An with sparkling eyes.

Someone even said excitedly: "Just as the prince said, who wants to be a ghost when they can be human?"

"I was originally from Lizi Village. Because my family suffered a disaster and had no food to eat, and my mother was about to starve to death, I had no choice but to become a bandit!"

"I am from Niujiagou. That year, I was dying of hunger and was picked up by Guoshanhu's men. That's when I was forced to become a bandit..."

"I am from Gaojiashan..."

"I'm……"

The returnees from Crescent Mountain all told the reasons why they became bandits. Most of them were forced to do so because their families had suffered a disaster.

The people of Baicheng looked at each other with complicated expressions.

(End of this chapter)