Su Yan heard Liu Ximing ask such a question, and hurriedly explained to him: "Young master, I think it is the reason why the money is passed in various places, from Shunqing down the river to Chongqing, and I have to pass through several states and counties. ”

"Hahaha, that's exactly why, Sichuan is not Tang's hometown after all, if you go from Chongqing to Hubei, these officials don't dare to trouble me."

Liu Ximing suddenly understood, although the commercial tax of the Meng Dynasty was extremely low, but it couldn't stand up to the local food and cards, no wonder it was only the prototype of the commodity economy until the end of the Meng Dynasty.

But in this case, Tang Xiuyuan should have a lot of face in Hubei, what did Dou Yuquan say before, he came to purchase silk for the Chu Palace? It's no wonder.

Liu Ximing figured out the key inside, he lowered his head and pondered, and silently calculated in his heart that he would be able to produce 29,000 pieces of cloth per month in a month, which was 14,500 taels according to five coins of silver, which was 2,900 taels more than Shunqing's delivery.

, do it, why let these corrupt officials earn the middle price difference between labor and capital.

"Mr. Tang, I choose to deliver in Chongqing, if it is convenient, I want to go to Chongqing with you this time, which can also be regarded as exploring the way."

Tang Xiuyuan was not surprised by Liu Ximing's choice, who would dislike making too much money, but he still kindly reminded: "It's nothing to go to Chongqing together, but if you encounter a card, I'm afraid you will have to solve it yourself, in the past few years, the boundaries of Chongqing Prefecture have been fighting and killing, and the local area is very noisy, and these officials are also torn their faces, and they all want to catch as much as they can, and I can't take care of it." ”

"Of course, we will follow Mr. first, and I will arrange for someone to follow me in terms of goods."

Hehe, Liu Ximing is not afraid of any bullshit tax card, all the cloth is in his space, even if he takes off his pants, they can't find it, 7,000 pieces of cloth can earn an extra 700 taels for a round trip, this transaction is worth it.

Seeing that the business was negotiated, Dou Yuquan was also happy all of a sudden, he was not worried that Tang Xiuyuan would lose money, although this Shibo said that he quoted a high price of six yuan of silver for the sake of his face, but he thought that he would not sell it less than seven yuan to one or two silver horses, and it was still a big profit.

"Shibo, do you want to stay here or leave today, if we have time, we can have a light meal."

Tang Xiuyuan immediately waved his hand: "Don't stay, the day when the prince marries his daughter is not far away, I have to go back to the errand quickly, and besides, we shouldn't be too public." Liu Gongzi, if it's convenient for you, let's leave now. ”

"Okay, Mr. Tang can call me Ximing, in that case, Brother Yuquan, I'll come to you for dinner when the younger brother returns to the city." Liu Ximing took Su Yan and others to say goodbye to Dou Yuquan, he went out this time with Su Yan and Li Biao and other fifteen guards, considering that the road was not very safe, he only arranged for one person to go home to report the news.

Tang Xiuyuan only brought two small servants to the Dou family, but he didn't expect one

When they arrived at the city gate, dozens of guards immediately followed, and the group walked towards the dock.

Huang Hongyi's Buzhuang guys had been following Liu Ximing and the others, but who knew that Dou Yuquan was alert and threw them away in a few strokes, so these people could only be divided into several ways to squat around.

Squatting at the east gate, this person was startled when he saw the posture of Liu Ximing and his party, he watched Liu Ximing and others get on a tall ship, and he quietly ran to the wharf tax office to inquire about the news, the Huang family is also a famous big family in Shunqing, and these little officials told him about Tang Xiuyuan's situation.

"Shopkeeper Huang, the little one has made it clear, the one surnamed Liu didn't go to another house, and went directly to the ship of the person sent by the King of Chu in Hubei to purchase silk and satin cloth, and he had already lifted anchor and went down the river just now."

"Okay, hahaha, I'll show you the reward."

This guy came back at the right time to report the news, Huang Hongyi was catching a few other people and scolding him, but he didn't expect someone to find out the news, so happy that he turned around and walked to the house after speaking.

......

To say that it is convenient to have his back against a big tree, Tang Xiuyuan's fleet has nearly ten big ships, the smallest is also a three-masted ship, and the one Liu Ximing is riding on has five masts.

I don't know if it's for Dou Yuquan's face, or if he really values the cooperation with the Liu family, Tang Xiuyuan sent someone to arrange a single room for Liu Ximing and Su Yan, and Li Biao and other guards lived in the other three rooms.

Several rooms are arranged on the third floor of the big ship, and the rooms are fully applied, and they are very clean, Liu Ximing looked around and was satisfied.

It's been almost a year since I crossed over, and this is the first time that Liu Ximing has stepped out of the scope of Shunqing Mansion, not to mention Li Biao and others, a group of teenagers looked very excited.

There is no danger on the ship now, Liu Xi ordered them to simply disband them and let them make trouble on their own.

The fleet went down the Jialing River, and the scenery on both sides of the river was picturesque and green, but Liu Ximing stayed at the bow of the boat and looked at it for a while before feeling bored, and those who had seen the sea returned to the river, and felt that these scenery was like that.

As soon as Tang Xiuyuan got on the ship, he was busy counting the goods, and Liu Ximingle was leisurely, just taking advantage of this time to review the Four Books and Five Classics.

But looking at it, Liu Ximing's mind gradually drifted to other things, and the scenes of this morning flashed in his mind, and all kinds of doubts and dregs flooded, making Liu Ximing feel a little weird.

Looking at the way Dou Yuquan led the way before, he seemed to be avoiding something, but since he had a world friend like Tang Xiuyuan here, what else did he have to worry about, Liu Ximing thought about it, and felt even more puzzled in his heart.

After the boat drove for nearly an hour, Liu Ximing obviously felt that the speed of the ship had slowed down, and there seemed to be a tendency to stop, he closed the book and walked out of the cabin with a little curiosity.

"I've arrived in Dingyuan County, like a boat check in the county."

Biao had been standing outside Liu Xi's room and waiting, and when he saw him come out, he hurriedly explained to him. The two of them walked straight to the bow of the third floor, and they saw a small boat approaching the big ship, and at the bow stood a man dressed in a cyan officer's costume and wearing a double-winged officer's scarf, followed by two errand officers.

Tang Xiuyuan did not show up, only a steward was sent out to receive the ship, Liu Ximing saw the steward and the clerk say a few words from afar, the two immediately had some disputes, and after a while, the steward immediately took out a piece of silver to the clerk, and the people in Dingyuan County got on the boat again with a smile and rowed to the river.

Liu Ximing was a little curious in his heart, and took a few steps downstairs to stop the steward: "Steward Zhu, that person is from the tax customs, how much silver did a boat collect?" ”

Steward Zhu got Tang Xiuyuan's orders, and replied to Liu Ximing more politely: "Liu Gongzi, it is indeed a poor person from Dingyuan County, this gang of people who kill a thousand knives, a boat will collect ten taels, and in the end, it will be reduced to five taels for the sake of our purchase for the Chu Palace." ”

"Hahaha, it turns out that you can still negotiate the price."

"Hehe, Liu Gongzi doesn't know, this money has no origin, and it's not for them to bargain, so there are usually more ships rushing away, as long as they don't hold it, it's not like that, that is, we who often come and go, so it's not good to tear our faces. However, it is not without benefit for these people to collect money, at least they will still greet the water bandits on the river. ”

"Hiss"

Liu Ximing listened and kept inhaling, this is really a family of officials and bandits, isn't it just a different way to collect protection money?

After listening to Steward Zhu's explanation, he had a deeper understanding of the affairs of this place, and seeing that Steward Zhu was still in a hurry to go back to report, Liu Ximing did not want to delay him.

"We did meet a noble person this time, if it weren't for this Dou Gongzi, I'm afraid that this matter would not end well, even if we went to Chongqing ourselves, we might not be able to find such a powerful business, let alone this price."

Su Yan saw Liu Ximing out of the cabin, and hurriedly ran over to serve, he thought that he had done a mess in this matter today, and he could only do everything possible to save a little bit of his image in Liu Ximing's mind.

Liu Ximing turned his head to look at him, guessed his mind a little, and said to him and Li Biao with a smile: "It is indeed thrilling, what happened this morning is really unlucky, and no one is to blame, as long as I do my best." ”

Su Yan listened to Liu Ximing's words, and his heart settled down, and at the same time, he was also a little grateful to Liu Ximing for saving his face in front of Li Biao and others.

It is almost 200 kilometers from Shunqing Mansion to Chongqing Mansion, and the big ship cannot sail at night, so the group can only rest in Hezhou for one night.

Hezhou was the Diaoyu City of the Song Dynasty, and the state city was prosperous, so Tang Xiuyuan invited Liu Ximing and his party to the city for a banquet.