When Xiao Er heard Yan Jizu's question, he said with a smile: "This guest officer, this is what you outsiders don't know. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoOur Chifengwei seems to have a heavier commercial tax, but in fact, for merchants, compared with other places, it is much lighter. ”

"Oh, little brother, please elaborate." Yan Jizu came to be interested.

Seeing that he was interested, Xiao Er simply opened the chatterbox, and he said in a low voice: "Guest officer, according to the law, I am the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, and the merchant has thirty taxes and one, which should be very light." But with all due respect, this law is almost a piece of waste paper today. In this great future, where the government officials do not exploit and squeeze large and small businesses, it is a pity that the money obtained by the hard work of the merchants has been taken by them, and the country has not shared the benefits, but only fattened such corrupt officials. What's more, if a merchant is forcibly requisitioned as a government leader, it is even more necessary to flee with his family or destroy his family wealth in order to avoid disaster. ”

Hearing Xiao Er's words, Yan Jizu and Fang Wenhe nodded again and again.

Yan Jizu even had a look of surprise on his face, he couldn't have imagined that the second child of a small shop could speak so eloquently, which impressed him.

Xiao Er seemed to see his thoughts, and he sneered: "Guest officer, most of these words are known from the merchant edict issued by Lord Li of Chifengwei, and the merchants of Chifengwei and the big and small are all clear about this. Otherwise, the villain is blind, how can he have such knowledge. ”

When Yan Jizu heard this, he subconsciously glanced at Fang Wenhe with a complicated look.

He sighed secretly in his heart, this Li Xiao can see the shortcomings of the government so clearly. Although this person is a military general, he is afraid that even he, the governor, is not the same as the management of merchants.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Xiao Er sighed and said: "This Lord Li, Chi Fengwei is well governed, the market is safe, we only need to pay one-eighth of the business tax of sales every month, and don't worry about the rest." There is neither the exploitation of officials nor the extortion of the green-skinned ruffians, so the merchants can only operate with confidence. Therefore, there are many merchants in Chifengwei and their business is prosperous, which is the result of Lord Li's governance. ”

Yan Jizu listened to Xiao Er's words, and nodded again and again.

He thought for a while, and said as if talking to himself: "It seems that this Lord Li, if he manages this Chifeng Wei quite well, wait for me to go to Chifeng City, but I have to take a good look." ”

Xiao Er blinked, and asked hurriedly: "You foreign guest officers, this is the first time to come to our Chifengwei, right?" ”

Yan Jizu was stunned: "Exactly." ”

Xiao Er hurriedly said: "If you are new to the city, you can't go straight into the city without the pass waist card issued by Chifengwei. You need to go to the office of the Civil Affairs Department outside the city gate to verify your identity and get a pass before you can enter the city and stay in the city to rest. This pass needs to be renewed every three days for verification, but it needs to be remembered. ”

Fang Wenhe on the side interjected: "I didn't expect that you, Chifeng City, such a prosperous place, are quite closely investigated. ”

Xiao Er smiled and said, "This is a measure that Lord Chifengwei Li has to take in order to strictly prevent the Tartars and the Liukou from working carefully. If you have been operating here for a long time and have performed well, you can receive a pass waist card from the Department of Civil Affairs, and as long as you wear this waist card in the future, you will no longer need to open a travel permit. ”

After listening to Xiao Er's words, Yan Jizu sighed, and looked at Li Xiao in his heart, and he didn't feel a little high.

At present, in all parts of the Ming Dynasty, the military armament is relaxed, even if it is an important border town, and the inventory work in many places is basically in a loose state of turning a blind eye. Originally, the loss of the cities of Liaodong had a great relationship with the laxity of the city defense of the officials and soldiers. This Li Xiao is in a mainland town, but he can be strictly vigilant, this person should not be underestimated.

Yan Jizu was still pondering, but Xiao Er couldn't keep his mouth shut, he smiled and said to everyone: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are new to the city, if you are free, it is better not to rush into the city first, you can detour from the west to the Longkou Port in the north, see the grand occasion of my Chifengwei sea trade, and then enter the city from the north gate, in this way, you can save an inventory." ”

Yan Jizu's eyes lit up: "Little brother, this method is very good, then I'll go to Longkou Port to have a look first." ”

After a short time, everyone was full of wine and food, and then they got up and departed. In addition to paying two or five cents for wine, Fang Wenhe also gave Xiao Er a tip of 5 cents of silver, and Xiao Er smiled badly, and even claimed to thank him.

After leaving the hotel, everyone followed Xiao Er's suggestion just now, detoured from the west side of Chifeng City, and went straight to Longkou Port.

When detouring from the west side of Chifeng City, Yan Jizu noticed that across the wide and deep moat, you can see that on the west city wall, there are all kinds of defensive measures such as corner towers, fortress towers, female walls, and perforations.

Yan Jizu's heart was full of emotion.

After traveling five or six miles away, Yan Jizu and others could see from a distance that Longkou Port was like a huge open dragon's mouth.

If you get closer, you can see that in this huge port, the blue waves are rippling, the sea and the sky are colorful, and there are hundreds of ships of all sizes. There are also many ants and transporters, carrying goods back and forth on the ships and docks, busy endlessly.

A wide and smooth official road stretches far away, connecting the port and Chifeng City. On this official road, four-wheeled carriages, two-wheeled vehicles, wheelbarrows, human-powered sedan chairs, and pedestrians carrying commercial goods are crowded and endless.

On both sides of the official road, there are all kinds of shops, shops, restaurants, teahouses, shouting and shouting one after another.

Yan Jizu saw that batches of grain, tea, porcelain, cloth, wine, wooden utensils, traditional Chinese medicine, rouge gouache and other materials were constantly unloaded from the ship and transported into Chifeng City through the official road. Boxes of ironware, swords, raw silk, woolen wool, and sea salt were constantly transported out of Chifeng City, passing through the port, and being transported to various merchant ships.

Such a busy scene made Yan Jizu have an illusion, as if he was not in Chifengwei, Shandong, but as if he had returned to Quanzhou Port, the first overseas trade port of the Ming Dynasty, not far from his hometown.

Everyone watched it for a while, and they were all amazed.

Then, he followed the official road again and returned to Chifeng City, preparing to enter Chifeng City through the north gate.

Sure enough, outside the north gate, there were two columns of soldiers in bright armor and serious expressions, strictly checking the people who came and went. On the side of the north gate, there is the office of the Chifeng Wei Civil Affairs Department, where special officials verify the identities of people entering the city and issue pass permits.

Fortunately, Yan Jizu and everyone had already prepared, and brought the travel road issued by Jinan Prefecture, and after the official verified that it was correct, he opened a pass and let everyone enter the city.

When they entered the city, they were more and more shocked when they saw the prosperity of the city.

They saw that on both sides of the wide bluestone slab central street, there were many large wholesale markets, as well as large buildings such as carriage and horse shops, warehouse areas, and neatly planned civilian areas and rich areas.

And go further, you will arrive at the real downtown area of Chifeng City, where pedestrians are shoulder to shoulder, traffic is busy, and people are noisy, so a lively scene.

On the bluestone streets, from time to time, there are groups of security teams in leather armor, patrolling back and forth to maintain order on the streets. Yan Jizu noticed that many of these patrols were slightly disabled, some had fewer fingers, and some were slightly lame, and it was estimated that they were soldiers who had been injured on the battlefield and had left the army to become security personnel.

At this time, the shouting and selling of the shops on both sides of the official road was coming louder and louder.

"The best Songjiang fine cotton cloth, the fabric is dense and thick, warm and comfortable, the price is affordable, only two taels of silver per horse。。。。。。"

"Ladies and gentlemen, our store has the latest good Fujian Tieguanyin, take a sip to quench your thirst, drink two sips to moisten your stomach, drink a pot is refreshing and worry-free, all guests come to try it for free。。。。。。"

"The best Suzhou jasmine rouge, the fat is finely powdered, and a box only costs one or two or five dollars of silver! Alas, if you rub it, little lady, it is called a beautiful fairy, and your family will be accompanied by you as a beauty, and you will never go to green again. Lou La。。。。。。 ”

"Real Shanxi old vinegar, sour enough, slow aftertaste, first-class color, fair and affordable, all guests come to buy it。。。。。。"

"Baked cakes, hot fish pancakes, delicious and affordable, ten yuan only half a penny silver。。。。。。。"

A group of people looked all the way over, only to see a wide bluestone road on both sides, all kinds of shops, what cloth shops, rice shops, oil shops, vinegar shops, restaurants, tea shops, rouge gouache shops, medical shops, knife shops, utensils shops, porcelain shops, etc., and even storytelling shops, fortune telling stalls, Fengyue field and so on. Yan Jizu and the others couldn't think of any different stores that could be opened in a seamless way.

"Dong Weng, the students now know why Li Xiao can only collect such a small grain tax." Looking at the prosperous scene in front of him, Fang Wenhe looked moved.

"Oh, but why?"

"My lord, this Li Xiao's Chi Fengwei, there are so many merchants, such a prosperous trade, and such a dense population, the monthly commercial tax collected is probably an astonishing amount, in contrast, that grain tax is estimated to have not entered Li Xiao's eyes at all."

Yan Jizu nodded and said: "Grasping business and promoting agriculture was originally the policy of the Southern Song Dynasty, but I didn't expect that this Li Xiao would carry forward this policy in Chifengwei. ”

"My lord, where am I going next?" Fang Wenhe asked.

"Now that Chi Fengwei has basically finished watching, let's go straight to the inner city. I should also go and see what this main Li Xiao looks like. Yan Jizu had a happy smile on his face.

The group then led the horses to the entrance of the inner city.

The entrance to the inner city is more tightly guarded, and there are two columns of honor guards in dazzling steel armor, guarding the entrance with serious expressions. Ordinary pedestrian caravans detour from both sides from a distance.

When Yan Jizu and his party approached the entrance of the inner city, a soldier with bright armor blocked everyone's way.

"The inner city is an important place for officials and soldiers, idle people, etc., are not allowed to enter, retreat quickly!" The soldiers shouted loudly to the crowd.

Yan Jizu nodded to Fang Wenhe.

Fang Wenhe understood, stepped forward with a smile, and whispered to the military queen: "Quickly go and report to your city lord Li Xiao, and tell him that Lord Yan, the governor of Shandong, has led the people to pay a private visit here, and ask him to come out to greet him." ”

The soldiers were shocked, he looked Yan Jizu and his party up and down with a suspicious look, and then quickly entered the report inside.

A short time later, from inside the entrance, there was an urgent sound of footsteps.

Yan Jizu saw that a young official with a strong figure and a handsome face, dressed in a military attache uniform of the third rank and wearing a gauze hat, led a group of officials to rush out of the inner city.

The young official, standing a few steps away from Yan Jizu and the others, saw Yan Jizu and his party dressed in regular clothes, like ordinary businessmen, and his face unconsciously showed a puzzled expression.

Yan Jizu said secretly, it is estimated that this person is Li Xiao.

So, he immediately took off the official seal on his body and handed it to Fang Wenhe, so that Fang Wenhe could hand it over to the young official opposite for inspection.

The young official, after inspecting the official seal, couldn't help but change his face greatly. hurriedly handed over the official seal to Fang Wenhe, and knelt down to worship.

"Chifeng General Li Xiao, meet the governor!"

Yan Jizu smiled and helped Li Xiao, and Li Xiao took advantage of the situation to stand up.

"It's better to see than to hear, Mr. Li is really a talent." When Yan Jizu saw Li Xiao so handsome, he admired from the bottom of his heart.

Li Xiao arched his hand and smiled: "The governor has praised it falsely, and he is terrified of his humble position. I didn't know that the governor had arrived, and I didn't welcome him from afar, and I hope to forgive my sins. ”

Yan Jizu waved his hand and said with a smile: "Mr. Li, this Xian came to Chifengwei this time, and he really wanted to pay a private visit to find out the truth, how could he tell you in advance." ”

After Yan Jizu finished speaking, everyone laughed.

Li Xiao hurriedly made a welcoming gesture and said loudly: "It's windy outside, everyone has worked hard from afar, please follow the last official into the city to rest quickly." ”

When taking Yan Jizu and Fang Wenhe into the living room to sit for a while, Li Xiao ordered at the same time to arrange a feast to entertain Yan Jizu and his party.

In the living room, Yan Jizu sighed with deep emotion: "Li Xiao, do you know that before the future Chifeng Wei of this constitution, there are many people who report to this constitution, saying that you Li Xiao has no way to govern, and the people are so resentful." ”

Li Xiao's heart tightened, and then he smiled: "So, my lord plans to come to Chifengwei to visit the field to see the truth?" ”

Yan Jizu smiled: "That's right. Benxian came to Chifengwei from Jinan, and everything he saw along the road was a depression. Only when he arrived at the realm of Chifengwei did he see the prosperous and vigorous atmosphere, which was really the work of General Li Bing's governance. ”

Li Xiao said with a smile: "How can the humble and crude method of governance be worthy of the praise of adults." Lord Governor, Hugh is going to be tormented. ”

Yan Jizu waved his hand: "This constitution is not easy to praise people, Li Xiao can rely on your own strength to build such a prosperous Chifengwei, it is really not easy." Hugh said that Shandong is within the territory of my Ming Dynasty, and I am afraid that it is difficult to have officials who can have such outstanding governance achievements as General Li. It can be seen that most of those who complain are slanderous words. ”

Li Xiao looked grateful: "The governor has been very grateful to the governor for his humble duties and hard work, and he has not listened to the villain's slanderous words, and he has come to visit the remote place in person. ”

Yan Jizu said with a smile: "Li Xiao, Benxian is thinking, you, Chifengwei, have been governed so effectively, but you can't be alone." If you can give the law of the governance of the Red Fengwei to this constitution, then in the future, the constitution can promote this red Fengwei model throughout Shandong, so that the people of Shandong can enjoy the well-being, wouldn't it be a great thing? ”

Listening to Governor Yan's optimistic and expectant statement, Li Xiao smiled on his face, but sighed secretly in his heart.

In this small Chifeng Wei, it has been two years since the official wanted to promote his own policy, but it is still so difficult, and he has been resisted by the landlords and squires. When you Yan Jizu first arrived, he wanted to be so eager to promote it throughout Shandong, how easy it was to say!

However, he pondered for a while, still suppressed his true thoughts, and said to Yan Jizu with a smile: "If the adults think that the law of the remote place is advisable, the last official should tell the adults all the laws of Chifengwei's governance, so as to help the adults implement the laws of my Chifengwei's governance in various parts of Shandong." ”

Yan Jizu was overjoyed and said: "General Li has the overall situation in mind and is completely selfless, very good!" Very good! That constitution first thanked General Li on behalf of the people of Shandong. ”

Li Xiao hurriedly thanked him. At this time, the three of them, including Fang Wenhe, burst out laughing. In the living room, there is a harmonious atmosphere. (To be continued.) )