Just when they’d finally begun to see a glimmer of hope, the charcoal tax loomed over them like a mountain. Its heavy weight crushed the spirits of the people of Weishi County.

Xiling Village was shrouded in gloom over the news of the charcoal tax; nearly half the villagers were scrambling desperately to raise the silver.

Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaocheng discussed the matter and decided to set aside some silver from their shop to lend to the villagers.  It wasn’t just out of consideration for their fellow villagers.

The firewood and charcoal currently used by Yuye Pavilion are all purchased from the village at prices significantly lower than those elsewhere. The villagers sell their charcoal to Yuye Pavilion at low prices, and now that they were facing hardship, Yan Xiaoyu could not stand idly by.

Moreover, the villagers were able to produce so much charcoal last year partly because Yan Xiaoyu had suggested they grow vegetables in the rooms where they kept their fires burning. Her original intention had been to help them build their vegetable business, but she never expected to end up inadvertently causing them trouble; Yan Xiaoyu felt quite guilty about it.

There were many other households in the same situation as the villagers of Xiling Village. In any village that relied on the mountains and forests, there was hardly one that didn’t cut down trees to make charcoal during the winter.

Selling firewood incurs a commercial tax, and selling charcoal incurs a charcoal tax.

Farmers who made charcoal and merchants who sold it complained bitterly, and the common people who bought charcoal were no less vocal in their grievances.

It is still early in the first lunar month, and the weather remains cold; the county’s residents still need firewood and charcoal for warmth. As soon as word of the charcoal tax spread, the prices of firewood and charcoal immediately skyrocketed several times over. Even at Yan Xiaoyu’s shop, customers were complaining that they could no longer afford to keep their stoves burning.

Most of the people living near the county school are the families of officials, whose financial circumstances are slightly better than those of ordinary citizens. If even they say they can’t afford to burn charcoal, then ordinary people must surely be suffering from the cold.

Yan Xiaoyu sent someone out to investigate. Sure enough, several clinics in the county had recently seen an increase in patients suffering from colds, and there were far fewer street vendors doing business outside.

On the twenty-eighth day of the first lunar month, Yu Sanlang came by again; the matter of the charcoal tax had already been settled.

“On the 10th of this month, officials will come to the village to collect the tax. According to the government’s charcoal price, the tax is two for every ten. Fearing that we might conceal our production, the authorities have also established a regulation allowing villagers to report on one another. If anyone produced charcoal last year but concealed it from the officials—failing to pay or underpaying the tax—any villager can report them to the village office. If the report is successful, the informant will receive a reward of 20 percent of the tax amount. Those reported must not only pay the original charcoal tax and a penalty equal to one time the amount in arrears, but also pay an additional 20 percent to the person who reported them!”

Reporting just one person would earn a 20 percent reward. If you reported someone who burned a lot of charcoal, you could not only save your family the charcoal tax but also make a tidy profit. There would surely be brave souls willing to take the reward. Once this regulation was enacted, there would be no fear that an entire village would cover for one another and all claim they’d never burned charcoal.

Yu Sanlang looked helpless: “Recently, representatives from several nearby villages approached my father, hoping to join forces and have the local dignitaries from each village step forward together to persuade the county magistrate to change his mind. Our village has produced two juren, but since Juren Yan and the others are away, those people are counting on Brother Yan to intercede with the magistrate. For the past two days, my father has been constantly hounded by them and couldn’t break free; otherwise, he would have come over today.”

Yan Shaocheng pressed his hand to his forehead and smiled wryly: “How could I possibly have the influence to persuade the county magistrate? The charcoal tax is no small sum; the magistrate won’t change his mind. Their plan won’t work.”

“That’s exactly what my father said,” Yu Sanlang sighed. “Actually, the news about the charcoal tax first came from a local dignitary in Dongling Village. If he could have talked them out of it, he would have done so long ago—he wouldn’t have waited until now.”

“Scholar Yan’s father didn’t agree either, but the people from Beiling Village and Nanling Village wouldn’t give up. They kept pestering my father until he finally agreed to come and persuade you all.”

Yan Xiaoyu seethed with hatred toward Magistrate Zhong and didn’t approve of Yan Shaocheng going either.

“Brother Yan really shouldn’t go, but since the villagers can’t afford the charcoal tax, we can lend them some silver to tide them over.”

“That’s wonderful!” Yu Sanlang’s face lit up. “Uncle Liu and I just delivered another batch of vegetables to sell today. There aren’t many vendors out there right now, and none of them have vegetables as fresh or as varied as ours. Our vegetables are selling extremely well, but after we pay the commercial tax, there isn’t much left over—so we can’t really help out.”

Yu Sanlang looked pensive. “For the past few days, my mother has been trying to figure out a way to help the villagers who can’t afford the charcoal tax. But no matter how much she’s thought about it, she hasn’t come up with a good solution. The only option is for the wealthier households to each lend a little. Since you’re willing to take the lead, the other households shouldn’t refuse either.”

Yan Xiaoyu waved his hand. “No need to ask anyone else. Go back and work out with them how much is still needed. Yuye Pavilion will cover the rest, and they can pay us back gradually later.”

This was something he’d discussed with Yan Shaocheng beforehand.

Since they were helping, they might as well do so generously—there was no need to quibble over every penny. After all, they were still living in the village; it was just those ungrateful wretches. Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaocheng were willing to do them a favor.

“Of course—” Yan Xiaoyu added with righteous conviction, “except for that guy.”

Yu Sanlang nodded with a smile: “That goes without saying. I’ll lend the silver to those people.”

Yan Xiaoyu was a man of clear-cut likes and dislikes; he never treated those in the village who had wronged him unfairly, nor did he ever shortchange those who were on his side. As his brother-in-law, Yan Shaocheng was naturally on his side as well.

Yu Sanlang had come specifically to ask Yan Xiaoyu and the others for advice. Now that the gifts had been delivered and the arrangements were in place, he stood up to take his leave.

“I’ll talk to them when I go back this time, and when I come back, I’ll give you a specific amount. We’ll draw up a promissory note then and clarify in advance how the repayment will work—we can’t let you lose out by helping us out.”

Although he sympathized with the county’s residents, Yan Xiaoyu’s current capabilities were limited, and he was truly powerless to help with the charcoal tax issue. For the next two days, he didn’t give the matter another thought, focusing solely on teaching Xiao Jiu and A-Shuang how to cook.

Every day before dawn, Xiao Jiu would go into the kitchen to help Yan Xiaoyu prepare the ingredients. While Yan Xiaoyu was stir-frying, Xiao Jiu would watch intently, never taking his eyes off him, and whenever he had the chance, he’d try his hand at it. Even after everyone else had gone to rest for the night, he and A-Shuang would still be in the kitchen perfecting their skills.

He was willing to work hard and had a good grasp of things; by now, he could already prepare some home-style dishes quite well.

A-Shuang wasn’t as quick to pick things up as he was, but he worked just as hard, and now he could help Yan Xiaoyu with a few tasks.

Coincidentally, due to the charcoal and commerce taxes, there were fewer diners at Yuye Pavilion, so Yan Xiaoyu had time to guide them.

After two days of this, Niu Fugui arrived with the villagers’ signed IOUs, and Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaocheng withdrew silver from Yuye Pavilion’s accounts to pay him.

There were a total of thirty-six households in the village, and half of them were unable to pay the charcoal tax. Among them were Wang Ergou’s family, Wang Ergou’s uncle’s family, and the two households that had always sided with Yan Xingsheng.

Excluding these households, there were still fourteen families who needed to borrow money from Yan Xiaoyu and Yan Shaocheng to make ends meet. The amounts ranged from one or two liang for the smallest amounts to seven or eight liang for the largest, totaling over sixty liang.

Niu Fugui looked at the heavy chest of silver and wore a worried expression.

“It’s not too bad this time—the government’s charcoal price is still reasonable. But I wonder if it’ll stay the same when they collect the charcoal tax again at the end of the year? If they raise the price again, people will literally freeze to death!”

With so many mountains and so many trees in Weishi County, it is truly both absurd and tragic that the common people have no charcoal for heating. As the deadline for paying the charcoal tax drew nearer, the people of the county were filled with grievances, and even students at the county academy wrote poems and essays to urge the magistrate to reconsider.

In the end, the county magistrate’s office sent officers to make arrests. Several residents who had complained about the charcoal tax were rounded up, and the student who had written poems to urge caution was also thrown into the county jail. That student had dined at the Yuye Pavilion a few times, so Yan Xiaoyu was somewhat familiar with his situation.

His family was poor; he came from a farming background and had come to the county seat to study with only his mother by his side. The couple would occasionally come to the Yuye Pavilion for a treat, always ordering the cheapest dishes. 

The reason this scholar wrote poems and essays to offer advice was that his mother couldn’t afford to keep a fire burning and was falling ill from the cold at home. He loved his mother, sympathized with the common people, and was outraged that County Magistrate Zhong was abusing the common people—that is why he took this action. 

After he was arrested by the officials, his mother, despite her illness, wailed her way to the jail to plead for him. Unfortunately, she was so gravely ill that she could barely walk.

The woman wept so bitterly that it broke her heart, drawing a large crowd to the scene; even patrons from the Yuye Pavilion came to gawk at the spectacle.

Upon returning and recounting the incident, Yan Xiaoyu overheard it. After hesitating for a moment, Yan Xiaoyu decided to take A-Chai along to investigate.

By the time he arrived there, the woman was delirious from a high fever. Yan Xiaoyu paid for her medical treatment, lent her money, and helped her ransom her son from the county jail. After getting better, she learned of this and made a special trip to the Yuye Pavilion to thank Yan Xiaoyu; she nearly knelt before him.

This tactic of “killing the chicken to scare the monkeys” proved highly effective; after several people were arrested, hardly anyone in the county dared to speak ill of the magistrate. Later, when it came time to pay the charcoal tax, no one dared to resist.

After the charcoal tax was paid, Yan Xiaoyu and his group enjoyed a few days of peace, but before long, Magistrate Zhong began organizing poetry gatherings again.

Most of the merchants in the county received invitations, though fortunately, Yuye Pavilion was not among them.

According to news from Yan Shaocheng, the county magistrate and his chief clerk, Fu, worked in perfect harmony to rake in over ten thousand taels of silver at the poetry gathering.

Yan Xiaoyu couldn’t help but gape in astonishment—to rake in over ten thousand taels of silver from a single poetry gathering! Who knew how much more he’d skimmed off the top in the year since taking office! Ever since he took office, the merchants had been complaining bitterly and suffering terribly; even the officials under his command had reportedly made no shortage of “contributions” to him.

Now, resentment among the people of Weishi County was boiling over. Though the common folk dared not speak out, Yan Xiaoyu, too, hoped Magistrate Zhong would be transferred as soon as possible. Lately, while practicing his sleeve darts, he’d imagine the straw target was Magistrate Zhong, and every dart he shot was particularly fierce.

Now, whenever Nian-ger goes to the Taoist temple to read people’s birth charts, he makes a point of kowtowing to the deities enshrined there, begging them to ensure that Magistrate Zhong is transferred as soon as possible. 

Whether it was because of Nian-ger’s prayers or not, not long after the poetry gathering, the political landscape in Weishi County underwent a dramatic change.

County Magistrate Zhong was detained by the provincial governor, who had arrived from the capital. Just the day before, he and the group of officials he had brought with him had been drinking and reveling; overnight, they had become prisoners.

After Magistrate Zhong was taken into custody, the people of Weishi County were overjoyed.

While Yan Xiaoyu was overjoyed, he also felt some concern, fearing that driving away a wolf might only invite tigers and leopards.

Fortunately, this provincial governor seemed to be a truly good official. Within just over ten days, the charcoal taxes paid by the people were refunded, and the merchants who had spent a fortune purchasing Magistrate Zhong’s poems were notified that they could go to the county office to retrieve their silver.

Yan Shaocheng went to investigate and, upon his return, told Yan Xiaoyu that this provincial governor was a figure of considerable influence—and that he hadn’t originally been headed for Weishi County but had changed his route at the last minute.