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Chapter 55 236 Ge Xian Beats the Tax Supervisor

Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty was a greedy and foolish king. He pursued a life of pleasure, collected gold, silver and jewels endlessly, and squandered the treasury, so he did everything possible to search for it from the people. During this period, agricultural production and handicrafts gradually developed, and businesses along the southeast coast also flourished. In Suzhou, the silk weaving industry was particularly developed, and wealthy machine owners began to open workshops and hire machine workers. There were thousands of machine workers in the city. . The prosperity of this commercial city made the rulers of the Ming Dynasty think it was profitable.In order to extract more money, Ming Shenzong sent a group of eunuchs to those cities to collect taxes. Such eunuchs are called tax supervisors.The tax supervisor not only collects exorbitant taxes, but also extorts money from the people, causing them great suffering.

In 1601 AD, Sun Long, the tax supervisor of Mingshen Sect, went to Suzhou to collect taxes. Once Sun Long arrived in Suzhou, he colluded with the local ruffians and set up checkpoints in various parts of Suzhou City.Vendors can't afford to pay taxes, so they dare not enter the city to do business.This year, it happened to be rainy for two consecutive months, and there was a flood in Suzhou. The mulberry field was submerged, and the machine owners stopped working.Sun Long and his gang also had to collect taxes from machine owners, stipulating that each loom would be charged three cents in tax silver; each piece of silk and satin would be charged five cents in tax silver.

One day, Ge Xian (also known as Ge Cheng), a weaver, passed by Fengmen and saw several tax sticks under Sun Long beating a farmer selling melons.After Ge Xian inquired, he found out that when the melon farmer brought melons into the city, the tax rod forced him to pay the tax, and if he could not pay, he would rob him of his melons; Rice top tax silver.The melon farmer refused to agree, so he was severely beaten by the tax rod. Ge Xian was usually filled with anger at the tax supervisor's oppression and exploitation. Seeing this situation, he couldn't bear it any longer. He waved the banana fan in his hand and shouted loudly to beat the bad guys.The people on the side of the road responded like a tide and rushed to the Fengmen tax card.It was too late for the tax clerk Huang Jianjie to escape.The crowd surrounded him, picked up rocks and tiles and threw them at Huang Jianjie.This villain, who had done many crimes, was beaten with blood and blood, and lost his life.

At this time, the crowd gathered more and more, and the rebellion also boiled over.Ge Xian saw that Huang Jianjie was beaten to death by the crowd, and knew that the matter was serious, so he went to Xuanmiao Temple to discuss with the masses.If everyone didn't do it, they continued to recommend Ge Xian and more than 20 people as leaders, and asked the tax supervisor Sun Long to settle the score. Ge Xian and others found the homes of twelve tax clerks in different ways, lit a fire, and burned all their homes down; on the other way, the crowd came to the Suzhou tax office to arrest Sun Long.For a moment, the shouts shook the sky and the earth, and Sun Long was so frightened that he climbed out of the back wall and fled to Hangzhou in embarrassment.

After Sun Long escaped from Suzhou, the prefect of Suzhou ordered the arrest of those who participated in the riot.When Ge Xian got the news, he was afraid of hurting everyone, so he ran to the Yamen of Suzhou Prefecture by himself, and said: "I am the one who takes the lead. If you want to kill or cut, I will take care of it. Don't implicate others. The magistrate was worried about not being able to catch the leader of the case. Seeing that Ge Xian had come forward and surrendered, he was put in jail. On the day Ge Xian entered prison, tens of thousands of Suzhou citizens saw him off with tears in their eyes.When Ge Xian went to prison, thousands of people flocked to condolences with wine, food and clothes.Ge Xian refused to accept it again and again, but everyone still refused to take it back, so Ge ​​Xian distributed all the food, wine, and so on to the detainees in the prison.

Seeing this, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty did not dare to kill Ge Xian.Ge Xian spent two years in prison and was finally released.
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