Before dawn, farmers and their buffaloes and oxen gather outside the village watch-post, waiting for the gates to open so that they can reach their fields. Normally, they would already have begun their daily labour by this hour, but the village authorities have ordered the gates to remain shut because taxes are still outstanding. Beneath the bamboo groves, the animals stand or lie along the roadside while the exhausted watchmen lounge on their mats, smoking water pipes, yawning and chatting. The farmers, carrying ploughs and buffalo ropes, exchange anxious remarks about the taxes and the work they are losing precious time to complete. As the sky gradually brightens, the gate remains firmly closed, and their frustration grows.
One farmer, anxious to finish ploughing three plots before returning to his master's household, begs the head watchman, Trương tuần, to let him through. He explains that his master is short-tempered and will severely reprimand him if the work is not completed. He also points out that his master has already paid the taxes. Trương tuần refuses, insisting that the village chief, ông lý, has ordered all buffaloes and oxen to be kept inside until the outstanding taxes are settled. He claims that he cannot know which households have paid and fears being blamed by his superior if he disobeys. Another farmer makes a similar appeal, explaining that he has hired his buffalo for the day and must pay for it regardless of how long he is allowed to work. The head watchman remains unmoved, telling him to continue harrowing until the afternoon if necessary. The farmer protests that the animal's owner will reclaim it before noon, making the arrangement financially wasteful, but his pleas achieve nothing. Both men retreat dejectedly, their work delayed by an order over which they have no control.
As the sun rises above the village ramparts, most of the watchmen prepare to leave, while Trương tuần remains behind to supervise a few subordinates. Suddenly, the sound of wooden clappers and a series of drums echoes from the direction of the communal hall. The buffaloes and oxen begin to rise, and the head watchman angrily curses the villagers for failing to pay their taxes, threatening to seize every animal and sell them all. Shortly afterwards, the village chief, ông lý, arrives carrying a tax register and a cane, shouting abuse at those who have fallen behind. For five days, ever since the district authorities approved the tax collection order, he has relentlessly pursued payment through village messengers, representatives of family lineages and subordinates who visit households. With the tax deadline approaching, he has even obtained permission from the district magistrate to bring a bailiff and two soldiers into the village to punish those who resist. Emboldened by this official backing, he intimidates the villagers, who respond to his insults with fearful silence.
When several ploughmen from landowners who have already paid their taxes approach ông lý and ask for permission to work, he initially orders them to wait, dismissively suggesting that farming is less urgent than the state's taxes. After smoking several pipes, however, he instructs Trương tuần to open the gate for households that have paid, while ordering the animals belonging to defaulters to be taken to the communal hall for seizure. The watchmen struggle to pull open the heavy, worn wooden gates. Once ông lý begins reading the register, approximately ten buffaloes and oxen are released with their owners, while around twenty others are driven towards the communal hall. The animals are thus made to suffer for their owners' unpaid taxes, and the farmers are left facing the consequences of a coercive system that places official demands above their livelihoods.