CH 9
Ba Fu didn’t know what other people thought, and he didn’t want to know. A monthly salary of 120 copper coins to be a clerk was extremely tempting.
He used to be a teacher in Xi Yang City, but most of the people in Xi Yang City don’t even have enough to eat, so how would they have money to go to school?
Therefore, he lived extremely poorly, and now that there was a work with a monthly salary of 120 copper coins, his heart was moved.
Ba Fu squeezed out of the crowd, tidied his clothes, and went to the City Lord’s Mansion. He wanted to be the first to apply for the job, so as to prevent others from taking his job.
Liu Feng was standing inside the castle gate. He watched the commotion the crowd was making and couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s a good start.”
He also saw Ba Fu walking by. A flash of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he brought him into the castle.
Liu Feng sat down in the main seat in the living room, looking at the nervous old book¹ in front of him. He asked, “Are you here to apply to be a clerk?”
“Ye- yes,” Ba Fu responded nervously. How could he not be nervous? The young man in front of him was the sky² of Xi Yang City, the only noble and city lord.
“Don’t be nervous, sit!” Li Feng waved his hand, and waited until the other party sat down before asking, “The work of a clerk is to assist me in managing the matters in Xi Yang City and the territory.”³
“Yes!” Ba Fu quickly nodded.
“Tell me about the situation in Xi Yang City.” Liu Feng said.
“Yes!” Ba Fu quickly stood up and respectfully said everything he knew.
The more Liu Feng listened, the more wrinkled his eyebrows became. This time it was so wrinkled that it could squeeze a fly to death. The words were appalling.
The entire Xi Yang City was basically a slum and refugee camp, and what made them like this was the perverted taxes.
There were hundreds of unscrupulous taxes in Xi Yang City. The entrance tax, for example, required a person to pay a copper coin every time they entered the city.
This caused many people to move out of Xi Yang City to live, or only return once every few days. The residents would rather live in the wheat field than waste 1 copper coin.
And there were passing by⁴ tax, childbirth tax, wheat toll tax, marrying wife tax⁵… Anyway, several noble city lords changed the laws to exploit the people.
Ba Fu’s whole body was now trembling. He looked at the displeased Liu Feng, and now regretted coming to apply for the position of a clerk.
If he was to be responsible for collecting taxes in the future, he would immediately quit his job. Otherwise, he would be scolded to death by his friends and neighbors.
Liu Feng regained his senses and looked at the Ba Fu, who was full of sweat. He calmly said, “Starting today, remove all these miscellaneous taxes. Just leave a few basic taxes.”
“Ah?” Ba Fu widened his eyes and looked at Liu Feng blankly. He suspected that he had been hearing things.
Liu Feng took out two rolls of sheepskin and quickly wrote on them. The first roll was a notice to remove those unscrupulous taxes; the other one was proof of Ba Fu’s appointment as a clerk.
“Here, stick this roll of notice on the wooden board outside; you can come here to work starting tomorrow.” Liu Feng handed the 2 rolls of sheepskin to Ba Fu and let him leave.
Liu Feng looked at the leaving Ba Fu and couldn’t help but sigh. “These residents actually didn’t resist with these kinds of exorbitant taxes, that old thing Carter is really lucky.”
“You really are different from normal nobles.”
The sudden female voice from coming from his side made Liu Feng startled. He turned his head to look at Mina who was silently standing besides him.
“Can you make some sounds when you walk?” Liu Feng rolled his eyes.
“This is the instinct of the great cat warrior; it can’t be changed.” Mina said lightly.
“If a city lord can’t feed the people under him, then he isn’t a qualified city lord,” Liu Feng said.
Mina remembered what Liu Feng said when they first met: In a life, you can have nothing, but you can’t starve.
Mina was silent. Ever since she was a child, she had always ate a meal and starved a meal.⁶ She agreed with this sentence the most.
“Why haven’t you left?” Liu Feng asked curiously. He remembered that the catgirl was unfriendly to him at first, but now she was staying⁷ here?
“None of your business!” Mina wrinkled her nose and shook her ears, then turned her butt⁸ and walked away.
…………
Ba Fu, still at a loss, walked out of the City Lord’s Mansion. When he came to the door and turned his head to look at it, he finally regained his senses. He looked at the rolls of sheepskin in his hands and a smile appeared on his old face.
The people outside also saw Ba Fu coming out of the City Lord’s Mansion, and immediately surrounded him, and everyone began to ask questions.
“Mr. Ba Fu, how is it? Did that vampire noble also add more taxes.”
“Yeah, what tax has been added? How else would it be possible to give such a high salary?”
“If it’s too much, I’ll have to move to another big city. Otherwise I won’t be able to store wheat for winter this year.”
The more Buff listened, the more he felt that something was wrong. He couldn’t help but raise his hand to hit the people in front of him a few times on the head. He shouted, “What nonsense are you saying? Do you not want to live?”
“Uh…”
Everyone was silent, and they all looked at the excited Buff in surprise. Wasn’t this old man the one who normally complained the hardest? Why did he change today?
“Cough cough…” Ba Fu waved the roll of sheepskin in his hand, and said, “This year has changed. A good city lord has come, and everyone will have good fortune.”
“Ah???”
“Has Mr. Ba Fu been brought by the nobles?”
“It’s very possible. After all, it is a monthly salary of 120 copper coins. If it was me, I would be bought as well. It can let a family live a lot more comfortably and can even add more salt to the dishes.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ 老书. Literally, old book. Not really sure what it means though.
² Not the literal sky. It’s a way of saying that someone is unreachable.
³ The author does write both territory and the city, it’s probably cause the territory refers to the land and the city refers to the… city? Like, the houses and people in the land? Idk how to explain.
⁴ 路过. Walk by. Yes, that kind if walking by, like walking on a road.
⁵ Yes, the author literally wrote that. Wtf.
⁶ 吃一顿饿一顿. Literally, eat a meal hungry a meal. Basically saying that a person doesn’t have a stable lifestyle and can’t eat properly.
⁷ 赖. Rely. Don’t really know how to put it properly, so I put stay.
⁸ Screw censors. I’m not censoring anymore.
He used to be a teacher in Xi Yang City, but most of the people in Xi Yang City don’t even have enough to eat, so how would they have money to go to school?
Therefore, he lived extremely poorly, and now that there was a work with a monthly salary of 120 copper coins, his heart was moved.
Ba Fu squeezed out of the crowd, tidied his clothes, and went to the City Lord’s Mansion. He wanted to be the first to apply for the job, so as to prevent others from taking his job.
Liu Feng was standing inside the castle gate. He watched the commotion the crowd was making and couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s a good start.”
He also saw Ba Fu walking by. A flash of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he brought him into the castle.
Liu Feng sat down in the main seat in the living room, looking at the nervous old book¹ in front of him. He asked, “Are you here to apply to be a clerk?”
“Ye- yes,” Ba Fu responded nervously. How could he not be nervous? The young man in front of him was the sky² of Xi Yang City, the only noble and city lord.
“Don’t be nervous, sit!” Li Feng waved his hand, and waited until the other party sat down before asking, “The work of a clerk is to assist me in managing the matters in Xi Yang City and the territory.”³
“Yes!” Ba Fu quickly nodded.
“Tell me about the situation in Xi Yang City.” Liu Feng said.
“Yes!” Ba Fu quickly stood up and respectfully said everything he knew.
The more Liu Feng listened, the more wrinkled his eyebrows became. This time it was so wrinkled that it could squeeze a fly to death. The words were appalling.
The entire Xi Yang City was basically a slum and refugee camp, and what made them like this was the perverted taxes.
There were hundreds of unscrupulous taxes in Xi Yang City. The entrance tax, for example, required a person to pay a copper coin every time they entered the city.
This caused many people to move out of Xi Yang City to live, or only return once every few days. The residents would rather live in the wheat field than waste 1 copper coin.
And there were passing by⁴ tax, childbirth tax, wheat toll tax, marrying wife tax⁵… Anyway, several noble city lords changed the laws to exploit the people.
Ba Fu’s whole body was now trembling. He looked at the displeased Liu Feng, and now regretted coming to apply for the position of a clerk.
If he was to be responsible for collecting taxes in the future, he would immediately quit his job. Otherwise, he would be scolded to death by his friends and neighbors.
Liu Feng regained his senses and looked at the Ba Fu, who was full of sweat. He calmly said, “Starting today, remove all these miscellaneous taxes. Just leave a few basic taxes.”
“Ah?” Ba Fu widened his eyes and looked at Liu Feng blankly. He suspected that he had been hearing things.
Liu Feng took out two rolls of sheepskin and quickly wrote on them. The first roll was a notice to remove those unscrupulous taxes; the other one was proof of Ba Fu’s appointment as a clerk.
“Here, stick this roll of notice on the wooden board outside; you can come here to work starting tomorrow.” Liu Feng handed the 2 rolls of sheepskin to Ba Fu and let him leave.
Liu Feng looked at the leaving Ba Fu and couldn’t help but sigh. “These residents actually didn’t resist with these kinds of exorbitant taxes, that old thing Carter is really lucky.”
“You really are different from normal nobles.”
The sudden female voice from coming from his side made Liu Feng startled. He turned his head to look at Mina who was silently standing besides him.
“Can you make some sounds when you walk?” Liu Feng rolled his eyes.
“This is the instinct of the great cat warrior; it can’t be changed.” Mina said lightly.
“If a city lord can’t feed the people under him, then he isn’t a qualified city lord,” Liu Feng said.
Mina remembered what Liu Feng said when they first met: In a life, you can have nothing, but you can’t starve.
Mina was silent. Ever since she was a child, she had always ate a meal and starved a meal.⁶ She agreed with this sentence the most.
“Why haven’t you left?” Liu Feng asked curiously. He remembered that the catgirl was unfriendly to him at first, but now she was staying⁷ here?
“None of your business!” Mina wrinkled her nose and shook her ears, then turned her butt⁸ and walked away.
…………
Ba Fu, still at a loss, walked out of the City Lord’s Mansion. When he came to the door and turned his head to look at it, he finally regained his senses. He looked at the rolls of sheepskin in his hands and a smile appeared on his old face.
The people outside also saw Ba Fu coming out of the City Lord’s Mansion, and immediately surrounded him, and everyone began to ask questions.
“Mr. Ba Fu, how is it? Did that vampire noble also add more taxes.”
“Yeah, what tax has been added? How else would it be possible to give such a high salary?”
“If it’s too much, I’ll have to move to another big city. Otherwise I won’t be able to store wheat for winter this year.”
The more Buff listened, the more he felt that something was wrong. He couldn’t help but raise his hand to hit the people in front of him a few times on the head. He shouted, “What nonsense are you saying? Do you not want to live?”
“Uh…”
Everyone was silent, and they all looked at the excited Buff in surprise. Wasn’t this old man the one who normally complained the hardest? Why did he change today?
“Cough cough…” Ba Fu waved the roll of sheepskin in his hand, and said, “This year has changed. A good city lord has come, and everyone will have good fortune.”
“Ah???”
“Has Mr. Ba Fu been brought by the nobles?”
“It’s very possible. After all, it is a monthly salary of 120 copper coins. If it was me, I would be bought as well. It can let a family live a lot more comfortably and can even add more salt to the dishes.
Translator’s Notes:
¹ 老书. Literally, old book. Not really sure what it means though.
² Not the literal sky. It’s a way of saying that someone is unreachable.
³ The author does write both territory and the city, it’s probably cause the territory refers to the land and the city refers to the… city? Like, the houses and people in the land? Idk how to explain.
⁴ 路过. Walk by. Yes, that kind if walking by, like walking on a road.
⁵ Yes, the author literally wrote that. Wtf.
⁶ 吃一顿饿一顿. Literally, eat a meal hungry a meal. Basically saying that a person doesn’t have a stable lifestyle and can’t eat properly.
⁷ 赖. Rely. Don’t really know how to put it properly, so I put stay.
⁸ Screw censors. I’m not censoring anymore.
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