An hour later

Bai Mingzhe's convoy came to the west gate of Gaomi City.

Maybe there were more people in the convoy, and the people around them, in line with the principle that more things are better than less, involuntarily got out of the way and let them pass first.

At this time, a guard in armor walked out of the city gate hole slowly, raised his right hand, "Stop!" The visitor shows his name! ”

Feng Ju said a few words into the car, quickly ran to the front of the guard, and handed over the spare name that had been prepared in Chang'an, "Captain, please take a look." ”

Song Xiang, the captain of the city gate, turned out to be famous, and after glancing at it casually, he didn't look any further, but pressed the name in Feng Ju's arms and asked loudly, "From Chang'an?" Why are you here? Who is in the car? ”

Without waiting for Feng Ju to answer, Bai Mingzhe's voice took the lead from inside the carriage, "Therefore, the prince went to the country and was in power, because of his customs, simplicity and courtesy, trade and industry, it was beneficial to fish and salt, and the people were all together, and they were all big countries." Since Gaozu ruled the world, Qi is still an important source of salt and fishery in the Han Dynasty, and there are not a few fish and salt imported into the country every year. ”

Lifting the door curtain, Bai Mingzhe's face appeared in front of Song Xiang, and then said: "Contemptible people are not talented, so they deliberately sold their property, pooled money, formed a convoy, and traveled thousands of miles from Chang'an to buy salt and fish, in order to make tens of millions of family fortunes."

Song Xiang pulled out the saber at his waist, pointed at the carriage with the tip of the sword, and smiled contemptuously, "Heh, who should I be, it turned out to be a businessman." Get out of here! The ancestors of the Han family are not allowed to ride in the car! If you are a businessman, you dare to ride in a car, what should you be guilty of? ”

With his support, Bai Mingzhe got off the carriage and hurriedly explained, "The captain misunderstood, I only have the heart of doing business at present, and I have not taken official action yet. Everyone knows that businessmen buy and sell for profit! I have not bought, sold, or made a profit, so I am not a businessman. ”

Song Xiang didn't mean to relax, but continued to say angrily: "Hmph, if you say no, it's not, why should the captain of this school believe it!"

Feng Ju picked up the name again, and at the same time secretly signaled to his colleagues that if the captain in front of him had a lawless heart, he would be killed immediately, and then said: "Captain Gong ......"

"I'm Song Xiang!"

Feng Ju responded, "Oh, Duke Song, the things we haven't done business yet, the name is clearly written, you can send someone to check." This name is the ...... of the Taichang Qing Mansion."

Before he could finish speaking, Song Xiang frowned, raised his hand impatiently, and interrupted him, "I don't care what your name is, and I don't care if you buy and sell profitably, I only know that you are in my Gaomi realm!" ”

"I am the captain of the city gate, and the Gaomi city gate is under my jurisdiction! If you want to enter the city, you must pay a tax of eighty dollars! Oh, eighty bucks for one person! ”

"Let me take a look...... Wait, this is ...... That's twenty-five people, so you have to pay ......"

Song Xiang snapped his fingers and began to count.

"Two thousand dollars in total!" Bai Mingzhe raised his eyebrows and counted out the number, "Feng Ju, from the gold cake in the money bag." At present, the market price of the gold cake is 10,000 yuan, and half a gold cake is used as a tax, can the school captain be satisfied? ”

Song Xiang clapped his hands excitedly, "Satisfied!" Of course yes! Take out half a golden cake, and you may go into the city at once. ”

Feng Ju didn't say much, but motioned to his subordinates to bring half a golden cake, and then forcibly held back his anger and stuffed it into Song Xiang's arms.

As the Northern Army of the Great Han Dynasty, when did he suffer this kind of anger?

In Chang'an, it has always been the Northern Army of the Han Dynasty that blackmailed others, but I didn't expect that this time I was blackmailed, and I was still a local captain!

If it weren't for Bai Mingzhe's order an hour ago, he would have pulled out his sword and slashed Song Xiang to death.

"Feng Ju, give this Song Gong half a golden cake more! I have a few things I want to ask. Bai Mingzhe said suddenly.

"No!"

When Song Xiang heard that he was going to have extra income again, he immediately looked happy.

He rubbed his hands, took the golden cake, and said cheerfully, "Whatever you want, just ask!"

"Dare to ask Jiaodong County to keep its name?"

"Ma Ning!" Song Xiang replied very simply.

Bai Mingzhe looked at the head of the city wall, the corners of his mouth raised, and asked: "Duke Song, I see that the garrisons of Gaomi are strictly disciplined, I don't know, how many defenders of the same type are there in Gaomi City?"

Song Xiang's eyes narrowed, he glanced at Bai Mingzhe vigilantly, and said coldly: "What, why are you asking this?" It is a capital offense to inquire about military affairs! ”

"The contemptible people are just curious, there are tens of thousands of defenders in Chang'an, and I don't know how many Gaomi defenders there are."

"Hmph, if it weren't for the face of the golden cake, I would have killed you here a long time ago! It doesn't hurt to tell you, there are 800 defenders in Gaomi City! About fifteen households support one soldier! ”

Song Xiang said as he blew on the golden cake with his mouth, "Whew!" Call! After blowing, he bit it again, for fear that it was fake.

Bai Mingzhe was amused by this behavior, forced a smile, and continued to ask: "Duke Song, will these eight hundred defenders be too few to guarantee the safety of Jimo."

"Heh, Jimo receives tens of thousands of taxes every year, and the defenders have 4,000 people, and there are countless weapons to defend the city, so why do you need a small county to protect me? Moreover, after the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the possibility of a rebellion of the vassal states is very small, how can there be a threat? ”

"Taxes? Why do people hear that the land of Qilu pays less than 50 million yuan in taxes every year? ”

"Hahahaha, it's not nonsense. If you are too guarded, how can you send taxes to Chang'an without reservation? Song Xiang laughed a few times, "Remind you that doing business is not an easy thing. If you want to operate safely, it is best to find a backer, such as Hou Ye, Taishou and the like. It's worth spending millions of dollars every year for a stable! ”

Bai Mingzhe suddenly understood, it turned out that it was embezzled, no wonder the transactions generated here did not match the taxes received by Chang'an, so it was!

He arched his hand slightly and said, "Song Gong's words, the contemptible people have been taught. When I got the salt and fish, I immediately looked for a backer and paid the annual tribute to take care of it. In addition, the contemptible people have three last questions, which I hope Song Gong will answer. ”

Song Xiang waved his hand and scolded: "Hurry up, I still have something to do." A golden cake, just so verbose. ”

"Song Gong, in the land of Qilu, what is the price of salt? What is the price of food? How much is the tax? ”

Song Xiang inserted the sword back into his waist and said in a deep voice: "Salt, two hundred and fifty coins and one stone; Because of the plague of borers, the price of grain this year is relatively high, 90 yuan a stone; As for taxes...... According to the Taishou order, merchants in Jiaodong County must pay 20% of the profits obtained as taxes for all purchases and sales. ”

After a pause, he stared at Bai Mingzhe and his party with malicious intent, and smiled, "Remember, if you wait for a transaction in the city, or bring a convoy of salt and fish into the city on the way back, you will have to pay taxes!" The profit from the transaction tax is 20 cents, and the poll tax is 80 cents, and the carriage tax is 60 cents! For the sake of the fact that you are happy to take out the golden cake, and it is not yet an official business, the tax on horses will not be collected today. ”

Bai Mingzhe gave up his hand again and said in a low voice: "Xie Song Gong takes care of it!"

Song Xiang was too lazy to continue chatting, waved his hand, and expelled: "Okay, okay, let's go in quickly, don't block the door here!"

"No!" Bai Mingzhe climbed into the carriage again, gave Feng Ju a look, and signaled to enter the city immediately and go to the guest house to stay.

With a wave of the whip, "Smack!" ”

"Drive!"

"Gada! Gada! Gada! ”

The carriage immediately rushed to the guest house in Gaomi City.