Journey to the West: Life Simulation of Sun Wukong

"And the grain tax is collected based on the number of people and the land, but after you no longer own land, you naturally don't have to pay it because you have sold yourselves to the local gentry and landlords, no longer considered human."

"As for the taxes the local gentry need to submit, it might just be ten or twenty percent, after all, they're familiar with the officials."

"What about the part of the tax that is underpaid?"

"Officials can report to the royal court that the harvest was poor this year, then they can not only reduce the taxes for this area but might even receive a commendation from above."

"With the heavens high and the emperor far away, though Kun Country is small, it is large to the common farmer, so large that many of you would never have left your own little villages unless you were nearly starving to death."

Dog Two asked, "Do they do this every year?"

If this happened every year, wouldn't the emperor be a fool?

He could be emperor himself!

"Of course not," Su Jie shook his head, "This kind of thing, done once every two or three years, is enough, unless the area is geographically peculiar and indeed yields very little crop; otherwise, the deception won't last long."

"Then, there's another possibility—"

"That is, the taxes set by the emperor of Kun Country aren't actually that high; it's just that the local city lords and officials want to skim extra off the top, so you're unlucky."

"After all, all the major cities have a certain degree of autonomy. Your grain has to go through their hands before reaching the royal court, naturally, they will squeeze blood and sweat from you apart from their expenses."

"However, the emperor surely knows about this, but he doesn't care, because your lives are as insignificant as weeds, worth nothing."

Silence.

Every face was filled with silence!

But in their silence, they were repressing their unwillingness and anger!

Why were their lives so bitter?

They had thought that the emperor was merely being deceived by corrupt officials beneath him, but it turned out the emperor knew all along and was just indifferent, not taking it to heart at all.

"Damn the emperor!"

Someone cursed aloud.

And after the first curse, came another.

"The emperor is a son of a bitch!"

"I wish I could eat his heart, drink his blood!"

"Damn it all!"

"..."

The crowd swore and cursed, not minding their words.

In the past, they dared not speak out because they were admonished by their elders; now, they had been driven into the wilderness, and if not for the mercy of the celestial before them, they would have turned into lost souls and wild ghosts.

What was wrong with cursing a bit?

If Su Jie was willing, they were all ready to pick up hoes and fight to the death with the entire Linghua City!

"This is exploitation!"

Finally, Su Jie wrote these two Han characters on the ground.

Han characters, not the script of the Cultivation World nor the script of any country, but the people were used to them, as most of them had never seen much writing.

Now that they had the opportunity to learn, they naturally wouldn't give it up.

And now, they truly understood what exploitation was—the taxation by those above them was exploitation!

If the taxes were reasonable, and the collected grain was used to support officials and the military, they wouldn't mind, but in reality, most of their grain was sold for money and then embezzled by those above them.

They could not accept this.

In the past, they could accept it because they were powerless to change anything, but now they couldn't accept it because they no longer owed anything to Kun Country. When Kun Country had driven them into the wilderness to fend for themselves, they owed nothing more to Kun Country; in fact, Kun Country owed them a lot.

The houses here, the land here, the grain here, all came from Su Jie. They owed Su Jie a lot and were willing to let their descendants serve him, but what was Kun Country?

As far away as possible, roll as far as it can!

Fueling their indignation, Su Jie continued, "We can recuperate here because this is a wilderness; they would never think that this land, once home to ancient beasts, has been turned into a homeland by us."

"However, that doesn't stop them from possibly discovering us later. If they find that a new village or even a small town has formed here, they will surely claim it and then, you'll have to pay taxes again."

"How dare they!" Dog Er said fiercely.

"There's no need to be so agitated," Su Jie soothed the crowd. "Of course, we cannot let them exploit us any longer. We must resist and make sure they never recover."

Mixed with fear and concern, Dog Er asked, "Do you mean to start a rebellion?"

"What is a rebellion?" Su Jie asked sternly. "To rise against our superiors, to be unruly, that's what a rebellion is. We seek to ensure that everyone can live with dignity. How could that be a rebellion?"

"Then what is it called?"

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Lu Yixia spoke passionately, "If anyone dares to do so, I'll be the first to hammer him to death!"

Lu Erxia chimed in, "I'll cut off his legs and see how he rides then!"

Lu Sanxia loudly inquired, "Among you, who wants to ride on the heads of others?"

"No one!"

Everyone shook their heads. How could they possibly ride on others' heads?

Absolutely impossible!

"Hopefully..."

Su Jie, with a deep gaze, asked those present to disperse and pass on tonight's lesson to others on duty, working, or resting.

With hundreds of thousands of people, it was naturally impossible for everyone to come and listen to Su Jie speak, so the word had to be passed along verbally.

"Did you learn anything?" Su Jie asked Meng Xiaolan beside him.

"Yes," Meng Xiaolan said seriously, looking at Su Jie. "I think I might someday meet my father, give him a good beating, and then lock him up for a while."

Su Jie gave a thumbs up!

This move was truly a cause for laughter!

Meanwhile.

In the capital of Kun Country.

This place had picturesque willow-lined roads and green curtain vistas, a patchwork of thousands of residences.

It was like a paradise on earth!

People bustled back and forth on the streets, never-ending.

On a rainbow bridge, a handsome man stood leaning on the balustrade, watching the river's traffic of ships vying with one another, a competitive display of sails and oars.

Suddenly, he frowned, "Who is cursing me?"

He was the Emperor of Kun Country, his cultivation reached the Stable Realm, and as the ruler of the nation and its people, he could sense divine revelations.

If one person cursed him, he wouldn't know. If ten people cursed him, he wouldn't know either.

But just at that moment, he sensed something; tens of thousands cursing him together, wishing to drink his blood, eat his flesh, and gnaw his marrow, shaking his very spirit.

"Rebels!" he thought.

With this in mind, he no longer had any leisure to enjoy the scenery. Accompanied by his disguised guards, he returned to the palace and called for the national adviser to inquire about the situation.

The adviser, also at the Stable Realm, checked an ancient book and through it consulted the nation's fate, finally answering, "Your Majesty, it's not a foreign invasion but at the southeast border, about thirty million miles away, tens of thousands are wailing, their blood has dyed the earth red, and resentment has tainted the nation's fate!"

"So it is," the Emperor relaxed. There were always refugees, but due to recent increased taxations to construct a statue for the Celestial God, there were more refugees this year.

However, in this world, the cheapest thing is human life.

"If that's the case, let them be!" he decided.

"Yes!"

The adviser bowed and left, returning to his mansion. He knelt before someone and said, "Respected ruler of the Taixu Illusory Realm, I have deceived His Majesty as instructed. Can we proceed with our deal so I may advance beyond the Stable Realm?"

"You may."

Sun Shisheng pointed his finger, and the adviser advanced beyond the Stable Realm, entering the Nascent Soul Realm and reaching the Primordial Breath Peak. His vitality reached 50, allowing him to levitate and live up to five hundred years!

"Thank you, ruler!"

Overjoyed, the adviser thought to himself that he had chosen wisely. Just one finger from Sun Shisheng allowed him to enter the Nascent Soul... oh no, the Nascent Soul Peak, with his inner divine fetus shining brightly, possessing miraculous powers.