Wang Ran thanked Li Shun, and then expressed his doubts in his heart: "Brother Li, today I observed that you and Brother Wang, as well as the employees in the store, all had sad faces, as if they had suffered an accident, what made such an open-minded person as Brother Li worried, can you say that you listened to Brother Yu?"

Li Shun sighed, and then said. It turned out that Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun listened to a friend from Chengdu Mansion who had a new envoy from Chengdu Prefecture, and as soon as he took office, he suggested to the transfer envoy to carry out a tea monopoly, and the transfer envoy actually agreed and ordered it to be implemented. At present, it is only implemented in Chengdu Mansion for the time being, and this Yongshou Army will also be launched in the near future, which will shock Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun.

After the current sage became the country, he set up a Bo Mai business on Xichuan Road, monopolized the cloth and silk trading, and the pricing was determined by them.

Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun thought that they had nothing to do, so they went to Qingcheng County to find Shi Zanshan of Zhixian County to discuss. Shi Zanshan, the county governor of Qingcheng, was a first-class scholar and the first in the Taiping Xingguo period, he was a righteous person, not a private person, he had always loved the people like a son, but he was helplessly squeezed out by the peak, so he should have a bright future and was sent to this remote Qingcheng County for a long time. Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun are the leading businessmen in the county, quite identious, and often communicate with the government with the elders in the county.

Shi Zanshan also said that he had indeed received the news and was looking for Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun to tell him. It is said that the new Bo Mai envoy is not very old, originally the county magistrate of Linxian County, but somehow suddenly climbed to the big man in the court, and immediately prospered in official fortune, and sat in the position of the Xichuan Lu Bo Mai Envoy, and the transfer envoy did not dare to offend him easily, so he had to allow him to implement the tea monopoly.

In addition to mastering the wealth along the way, this transfer envoy also led the inspection of local officials, maintained law and order, counted prisons, and recommended talents. With his approval, although the Chengdu Mansion caused public resentment, and all tea merchants used their connections to exert pressure, but they all had little effect. Moreover, he received a letter saying that Qingcheng County has always been an important place for tea production in Shu, and the envoy of Nabo will come to Qingcheng County in person to supervise this matter in the near future, and Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun had to return depressed.

When Wang Ran heard that the envoy had made a county order nearby, his heart moved, so he asked which county was the county commander of the nearby county, and whose surname was.

Wang Xiaobo replied, Yongshou County, Qi Yuanzhen.

…

…

The three of them were talking in the inner room, and suddenly heard the noise of people outside, and hurriedly went out to check, only to see a group of people coming to the tea shop. A crowd of about fifty or sixty people stopped in front of the tea shop, and Wang Ran saw that almost all of them had vegetables, and their clothes were clean, but they were very old, and there were many sewing repairs, like a group of peasant households.

Li Shun should know these people, and stepped forward and said, "What is the matter with your neighbors?" ”

A person walked out of the crowd, turned around and raised his hand to press the noisy farmers, and then said: "Everyone, don't be impatient, a certain bell flute will help you tell the two owners." ”

Zhong Di turned around, stroked the green scarf on his head, and said to Li Shun and Wang Xiaobo: "Wang Dadong's family, Li Erdong's family, it's really embarrassing for us to gather here today." This year's drought has not yielded much in the field, who knows that the government is in a hurry to collect taxes, and refuses to reduce or exempt our taxes, we really have no way to live, and it is useless for us to go to the head of the Lizheng household to intercede. I had to gather here, and I wanted to ask the two proprietors to help us go and intercede with the county magistrate to reduce some taxes, so that I could wait for interest. The two proprietors have always taken care of us, and they are friendly with the county commander, please see that they are all neighbors, and help them. Two lines of tears were left behind as he spoke, and his face was full of sadness.

The Great Song Dynasty tax system followed the two tax laws of the Tang Dynasty, but it was changed from taxation according to the amount of assets to taxation according to the fixed amount per mu, and taxes were collected twice a year, with grain in autumn and money in summer. In addition, there are additional taxes such as head money, Yicang tax, agricultural tool tax, cattle leather and tendon tax, entry tax, silkworm salt money, etc. These farmers are nearby tea farmers, Qingcheng camellia is of good quality, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun are righteous, the tea harvest is half a percent higher than other tea merchants' bids, plus the harvest of a few acres of thin fields at home is stable, although the tax is heavy, in the past years can barely survive. However, this year's drought in Xichuan and the poor harvest in the fields have made many farmers anxious, so they have to look forward to the government's mercy and implement the law of reduction and reduction. According to the established rule, "where floods, droughts, insects, and frost are disasters, there are points." 10 out of 10 losses and more than four rent-free; Loss of more than six rent-free adjustment; Loss of seven or more is exempted. If the mulberry hemp is exhausted, each is exempted, and if the service has been lost, it will be exempted in the next year. Unexpectedly, today, the heads of the households came to urge, saying that the master of the house had issued an order, and there was no possibility of tax reduction and exemption, and they must be paid in full, so the farmers were desperate and had to rush into the city to beg Wang Xiaobo and the two to ask for their lives.

Wang Xiaobo thought for a while, stepped forward and said: "A certain person is promoted by his neighbors, and he is willing to fight for you." But it's getting late today, and the government has already put off work, so why don't you go to the county government tomorrow to find Shizhi County to communicate, what do you think? If you don't feel at ease, you can also go with you tomorrow. ”

Zhong Di consulted the left and right opinions, and replied: "We believe in the big owner, but the two owners go to petition for us, and our owner will not dare to stay out, and we should accompany the owner tomorrow." He turned to the farmers and said, "Let's go back first today, don't disturb the business of the two owners." The gossip of the peasants thanked Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun, and finally dispersed.

The three of them returned to the back hall and sat down, Li Shun sighed, and said indignantly: "This is all the ungluttony, greed and rampantness of the transfer envoys, and if the tea monopoly is carried out, the local farmers will not have a way to live." ”

…

…

The next day, Qingcheng County Yamen gathered in front of a group of people, although they did not hold a blade in their hands, but they were also violent, the officials in front of the door were naturally very nervous, holding the long staff and short stick in their hands, I don't know what to do. A person walked out of the crowd: "We are not villains, don't be surprised, Wang Xiaobo, the owner of the Snow Tea House in the south of the city, was recommended by the neighboring farmers in this county today to come to communicate with the government about the summer tax, and asked the grandfather to pass it on." ”

The head of the official saw that it was indeed Wang Xiaobo, and hurriedly put down the long staff and said: "It turned out to be Wang Dadong's family, if you can't be invited, let's go and spread it." ”

After a while, the head of the official went out again and said, "The county magistrate invited Wang Dadong's family to the back hall to talk." ”

Wang Xiaobo and Li entered the door by the way. Wang Ran stood in the crowd and observed left and right, yesterday I heard Wang Xiaobo say that Qi Yuanzhen was actually the new Bo Mai envoy, and he would come to Qingcheng County in person in the near future, so he put aside the idea of returning to Hengqu Town.

After about half an hour, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun walked out of the yamen, bowed to the crowd in front of the door, and said: "I have communicated with Shi Zhi County, and Shi Zhi County promised to write to Chengdu Mansion for us, to state the matter, and to ask for the people's lives. ”

The crowd cheered and said: "The Shixian County Command Committee is Qingtian, and Wang Dadong's family and Li Erdong's family are really capable and speak up for us." ”

"Fellow villagers, let's disperse, go back and wait for the good news of Shizhi County, gather for too long, if there are people with bad intentions who take this as a fight, I am afraid that it will add unnecessary trouble to Shizhi County." Li Shun said with a smile.

"Whoa." When the peasant households arrived, they hurriedly dispersed with joy on their faces.

…

…

On this day, Wang Ran narrated with Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun in the tea shop, and heard that Wang Ran had changed his mind and planned to continue to stay in Qingcheng County, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun were overjoyed, so they often invited him to be guests. The clerk in the shop suddenly brought in a servant, and the servant said that the county lord had come to invite the two proprietors to the government to discuss the tea monopoly and summer tax.

Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun followed the officials to the county government, and Wang Ran had nothing to do, so he followed. When they arrived at the county office, Wang Xiaobo and Li Shun went in to discuss matters, and Wang Ran was hanging out nearby.

Walking near the alley on the side gate of the mansion, Wang Ran was shocked.