At the crack of dawn, ploughmen gather with their water buffaloes and cattle near the village guard post, intending to head out into the fields for their morning labour. To their dismay, the heavy village gates remain bolted shut under strict orders from the local authorities. The watchmen lounge inside the guard post, smoking tobacco from water pipes and ignoring the increasingly urgent pleas of the labourers. One ploughman begs to be let out so he can finish ploughing a large plot before facing the wrath of his short-tempered landlord, asserting that his master has already paid his taxes in full. Another desperate farmer explains that he is paying by the morning to rent his buffalo, meaning that any lost hours cannot be made up later. The head watchman rejects every appeal without mercy, refusing to risk punishment from the village chief by letting a single beast pass through before the village accounts are settled.
As the morning progresses, harsh signals from a wooden fish bell and a five-stroke drum roll echo from the direction of the communal house, jolting the resting animals awake. The village chief, Ly truong Dong Xa, marches toward the gate brandishing a bamboo staff and a tax registry book, shouting curses at villagers who are in arrears. Facing intense pressure to deliver the collected sums to the district administration, the village head has spent the past five days escalating enforcement measures throughout the village, sending criers, clan representatives, and tax collectors door-to-door to demand payment amidst relentless noise and commotion. Having secured reinforcement from the district magistrate in the form of an overseer and armed constables to discipline recalcitrant residents, he acts with absolute authority over the silent, intimidated crowd.
Upon entering the watch post, the chief reprimands the watchmen for failing to sound their alarm horns, takes a seat on a mat, and smokes several pipes of tobacco while keeping the impatient workers waiting. When several men whose masters have paid their dues step forward to ask for release, the chief insists that state tax obligations take precedence over farming work. He commands the head watchman to unbar the heavy wooden gates, but orders that only animals belonging to fully paid households be permitted to leave. The watchmen unbolt the gates and open them with great effort, allowing the chief to read names directly from his tax ledger. Around ten draught animals are released into the fields alongside their handlers, while approximately twenty remaining cattle belonging to indebted villagers are impounded and marched off toward the communal courtyard to be held as collateral.