It was already late at night, and a life-saving shout suddenly came from outside the door, and Li Fan and Xiao Liuzi both looked shaking in an instant.

"Go and open the door."

Li Fan spoke.

Xiao Liuzi rushed out immediately. Soon after, he walked back with a middle-aged scholar. The scholar looked quite poor and had some blood on his body. His face was filled with anxiety and fear.

"What's going on?

Why do you call for help late at night?”

Li Fan spoke.

However, the scribe said, "Are you...are you Lord Li Fan?"

There was a hint of hope in his eyes.

"It's me."

Li Fan spoke calmly.

Hearing this, the man was very excited in an instant. With a thump, he knelt directly on the ground and said, "Mr. Li, help, help!"

Li Fan helped him up and said, "What's going on? Tell me slowly."

The literati said, "Sir, the villain is called Zou Mingda, I'll file a complaint. I want to sue Zhang Shubo, the chief clerk of the county magistrate. He robbed others of his fame and attempted to kill someone to silence..." Li Fan was shocked in an instant and said, "Speak slowly, what's going on."

...As the lights swayed, Zou Mingda finally controlled his panic and excited emotions and told Li Fan all the things that happened to him.

It turned out that Zou Mingda was a poor scholar in Linchuan County. His parents died early and he had been dependent on his twin brother for life.

Five years ago, Zou Mingda participated in the imperial examination and won the reputation of a juren.

For a poor scholar, to reach this point, it is already a glorious family and a change of destiny.

But what awaits him was a nightmare.

Back then, Zhang Shubo interfered and replaced his fame! Zou Mingda was extremely angry and reported the case everywhere. However, in Linchuan County, he was desperate because the county magistrate's office covered the sky! Once, Zou Mingda was about to go to Beijing to file a complaint, but what he didn't expect was that Zhang Shubo sent someone to stop him and broke his legs.

That time, he lay in bed for a month, and halfway through, Zhang Shubo came to see him personally and told him that he would either work hard for Zhang Shubo, eat and drink well, but he had no fame.

Or, die immediately for the so-called fame and fortune.

Zou Mingda has no choice.

So, he became a gun in Zhang Shubo's hand.

Having given up everything and buried the seeds of hatred deeply, Zou Mingda simply did anything for Zhang Shubo, and gradually gained Zhang Shubo's trust.

Until two years ago, Zhang Shubo began to let him participate in the tax collection! Behind the scenes, he planned for Zhang Shubo, and what he had to do was to make fake accounts! - The current tax system of the court is the share between the court and the local government.

After local taxes are collected, they must be handed over to the court at a fixed proportion.

What Zhang Shubo has to do is to reduce the taxes received by the local government in the account book, so that the tax amount distributed to the court will be reduced.

The extra taxes in the middle are undoubtedly the pockets of the upper class of Linchuan County officialdom! After all, taxation is the top priority and involves a wide range of areas. It is impossible for one or two people to be greedy for this matter. I am afraid that the upper class of Linchuan County officialdom will be completely ruined.

"The villain has been heartbroken for many years. He just wants to live a good life with my elder brother. After saving enough money in a few years, he will give my elder brother a good wife... But some time ago, I heard about Zhengyang County."

Zou Mingda looked at Li Fan with hope and said, "I know that Lord Li even killed the county magistrate Sun Zhongji, and he was going to Linchuan to become an official. Since then, I have been thinking about it and always wanted to wait for Lord Li to arrive, so I came to report the case. Because I hate that I cannot live upright, but I want to do such a thing for those corrupt officials..." Speaking of this, he couldn't help crying and said, "But I didn't expect that someone suddenly came to my house and killed my elder brother... They are here to kill me, to kill me! The elder brother died for me..." After hearing this, Li Fan understood.

He was silent for a long time.

As soon as he entered the city, he wanted to listen to the current people's sentiments of Linchuan County along the way.

That's why Xiao Liuzi was asked to stop and drink tea and listen to books in the teahouse.

He heard the fear and helplessness of the people at the bottom of the class about taxation.

What he didn't expect was that this happened just after the night.

As Zou Mingda said, those people should not silence their mouths sooner or later, why should they choose today?

There is probably only one reason, Li Fan is here.

Li Fan's arrival made the other party afraid.

Li Fan couldn't help but feel a little pressure. He just drank tea in the gang tea shop and listened to the book. The other party actually did such a thing... It seems that there is a real master who is staring at Li Fan's every move.

"Ganti Banner, go, no spy outside, leave no one."

Li Fan suddenly spoke.

There is no doubt that outside his mansion, there must be a lot of spies, and most of those people also saw Zou Mingda running.

Now, the spy responsible for detecting the intelligence should be still outside and has not reported the news.

It's still time to silence! After all, this matter is very important. It is a lucky chance that Zou Mingdan can come here alive, and he must not let the county magistrates know easily! As soon as Li Fan finished speaking, Ganti Banner's figure flashed through the darkness.

Soon after, Gantiqi had already returned, standing at the door, carrying two bloody heads in his hand.

Seeing this, Zou Mingda was so scared that his face turned pale.

Li Fan nodded to the Ganti Flag, and the Ganti Flag immediately left.

"Mr. Li, when will you arrest those people? I can testify in court..." Zou Mingda spoke with a determined look on his face. Now, his elder brother has been killed, and he just wants to take revenge! However, Li Fan shook his head and said, "It's not the time. If you want to nail them to death, you need more evidence."

After all, this matter is too wide-ranging. It can be said that the entire officialdom of Linchuan County is involved. The Sun family, the leader, has been entrenched in Linchuan County for many years. There are powerful figures like the Minister of Justice in the court to protect them. Unless it is really a foregone conclusion, they cannot be defeated! Until now, there is no other evidence except for Zou Mingda's confession.

The certificate is not established! "If I remember correctly, this year's taxes should have started, right?"

Li Fan spoke.

Zou Mingda said: "Yes, Yangzhou has four taxes a year, and the winter tax should start levied in one month."

Four taxes a year! Hearing this, Li Fan couldn't help but sigh softly.

In ancient times, there were too many levies and miscellaneous taxes, and the burden on the people was very heavy.

Moreover, these taxes often have the nature of robbing the poor and helping the rich.

Because the literati and officials do not have to pay taxes, and large families often merge with the government. Not only do they not have to pay taxes, they can often act as tax collectors and share the capital with the government. In this way, the rich become richer and the poor become poorer.

The rise and fall of empires often arise because of this.

From the establishment of the empire and the rapid development, the exploiting class continued to grow. When the empire developed to a peaceful and prosperous era, the exploiters and the exploited lower-class people reached the limit of balance.

However, people's hearts are endless, and exploiters will continue to exploit. Even if the exploited people only have the last bit of ration left in their hands, they will rob half of them.

In this way, local tyrants will continue to grow, centralization will be weakened, the treasury will be difficult to support, and people will be disintegrated.

By the year of famine, the desperate people could only rise up. At that time, countless powerful families who had long accumulated capital by exploiting the people became heroes to compete. The originally arrogant dynasty often collapsed in an instant! Its prosperity and destruction suddenly came! This is the dynasty cycle.

For thousands of years, it has been like this.

Prosperity, the people suffer, the people suffer, the people suffer.

“When the winter tax is levied, it is the day we act.

If you want to prevent the major families in Linchuan County from turning around, you must obtain evidence of their greed for taxes and deceiving the court during this winter tax collection!”

Li Fan spoke.

However, Zou Mingda looked ugly and said, "But, all major families have been very meticulous in their actions. I have been responsible for one of the links for so many years. It is too difficult to get evidence... unless there is an undercover agent."

Li Fan couldn't help thinking. Indeed, if you want to get the evidence, you can only go deeper into it.

But, how easy?

In order to keep the secrets, even the former confidants have taken ruthless killing to silence the words. How could outsiders easily enter it?

"I think about this matter twice. From today on, you will live in the mansion and live in a quiet place. No one can hurt you here."

Li Fan spoke.

Zou Mingda also nodded and said, "Thank you sir."

...The next day.
Chapter completed!