After paying the summer tax, a few days later, Li Yan took Master Fan and one of his apprentices, three carts and ten soldiers to Kaifeng. See if you can buy cork for bows and crossbows, horsetail ropes, willow for arrows, and carved feathers or goose feathers. It would be even better if you could build a long-term trading relationship.

Along the way, I saw officials collecting summer taxes in the countryside, shouting, arresting, and resisting with weapons, which could appear in the countryside at any time. Even if there is a lot of wasteland, as long as there are people cultivating the land, it will become the target of a large number of officials. The reason why there were a large number of officials was because if there were few people, they might be attacked by the peasants.

By Kaifeng, the situation was much better. The fields around the city are either from the royal government or from high-ranking officials, and there is basically no need to pay any taxes. During the Hongwu Dynasty, only the civil servants were exempted from servitude, but as time went by, the preferential exemption for civil officials was more and more, and the preferential exemption also expanded from simple conscription to taxation.

Of course, the vassal kings are even more powerful. Not only do you not have to pay taxes, but you also have to get a huge amount of rice from the imperial court every year. Moreover, the vassal kings of the Ming Dynasty are all hereditary, and one is one, and there are few feudal vassals. The sons of the princes, except for the princes, are basically the kings of the county, and the sons of the princes are also the generals of the town, and then they are demoted in turn. These titles are all to be given by the imperial court.

After Yongle, the vassal kings were imprisoned in the fiefdom in disguise, and they were not allowed to associate with officials, go out of the city without permission, enter Beijing without permission, communicate and meet with each other, and were not allowed to make other livelihoods. Therefore, the only thing that the vassal kings can do is to pass on the lineage, so the children of the vassal kings are more than one race. So much so that at this time, the taxes of many provinces came up, and it was not enough to distribute rice to the vassal kings.

However, Kaifeng City is not as lively as it was during the New Year. People are walking in a hurry, their faces are vegetable, after all, they have encountered a locust plague, and the price of food has risen. And food is the most basic survival item, as long as the food rises, everything else will also rise. However, money cannot be conjured out of thin air, so people work hard to earn money, and then exchange the money for food to fill their stomachs. Now that is, the business attached to the palace can still live well, and other industries are not as prosperous as before.

Li Yan first let the people who came with him go to the inn, and he went to Li's house to visit his father Li Chunyu first to see if the potatoes and corn seeds he asked for were returned.

"Father," Li Yan knelt down in the hall and said, "Greetings from the child." ”

"Get up." Li Chunyu raised his hand and asked Li Yan to get up. After that, he asked, "Are you okay in Qi County?" Now I heard that thieves are everywhere, and I went to attack Zhengzhou a few days ago. It's a pity that the garrison Liu Chonghui, a fierce general, was invincible against the thieves, and he died of fire. It's really a destiny, thieves are everywhere, and the good generals have fallen, it seems that the ancestral tomb was destroyed, which really shook the dragon vein of the Ming Dynasty. ”

Li Yan listened quietly and had no comment.

Li Chunyu said again: "The thief is reversed again, and the deputy general Luo Dai also took the men and horses to Huguang. Alas, it's really a wave of unsettled, and a wave of rises. ”

Li Yan listened to Li Chunyu's babbling without interrupting, just listening quietly. When people get old, they will be a little lonely, and if they can have someone to talk to, they will say everything they want to say. Listening to the words of the old man is also a sign of respect for the elderly.

Li Chunyu talked for a while, seeing that Li Yan had been listening quietly, and asked, "What are you going to do when you come back?" ”

Li Yan smiled: "Come buy something." Father, I told you last time about potatoes and corn seeds, I don't know if there is any news? ”

"How can it be so fast?" Li Chunyu said with a smile: "If it was okay in normal times, the road is not smooth now." I have already sent someone to Fujian, and I will send someone to inform you when I have news. ”

"That's right." Li Yan was a little disappointed, but it didn't matter, as long as he could get it next spring, he wouldn't be able to plant it now anyway. After that, he asked, "Father, is our family running in Kaifeng's grain store okay?" ”

Li Chunyu glanced at Li Yan, then nodded, "It's okay." Say, how much? ”

Li Yan said with some embarrassment: "I didn't catch up with planting winter wheat last year, but I just planted some millet and sorghum in the spring. I wanted to get some winter wheat seeds from home. ”

"It's not bad," Li Chunyu said with relief: "It's not a complete loser, and you can solve it a little bit by yourself." ”

Li Yan immediately smiled and said, "Father, I brought the money, according to the market price, I can't buy it." ”

"What? Still rich? Li Chunyu also asked with a smile.

Li Yan replied: "I killed a group of thieves and got some silver taels and grain. ”

Li Chunyu nodded casually and said, "I don't care about your business, as long as you don't cause trouble to your family." The money is gone, you can keep it and do your own business. I'll prepare three stone seeds for you, is that enough? ”

Li Yan nodded and said, "It's enough, the child Xie Father." ”

"Let's go to the back house, go and see the Chen family and the Kong family." Li Chunyu waved his hand and commanded.

Li Yan withdrew and went to the back house to see his wife and concubine. Chen is now more and more convinced of Buddhism, and spends most of his time in the Buddhist hall every day, and he is also faint and not much close. And Kong's family, still the same as before, often cries and thinks of his son Yuanbin.

He was a little helpless, but there was nothing he could do. He had no choice but to come out again after meeting with Chen and Kong. When he sees them, he also thinks of his son who died young, so he also has to flee from this sad place.

Li Yan went to the market alone and walked around casually to relax his depressed mood. He walked aimlessly, but unexpectedly found an artillery workshop. This made his mood feel a little better all of a sudden, gunpowder is very useful, even if it is not used in guns, it can be used as a bomb.

So he immediately went in and wanted to recruit a few craftsmen who could make gunpowder. But the result was a big disappointment, and no one was willing to go to Qixian with him. Their business targets are mainly the families of various royal palaces and dignitaries, and they are not very affected by the rise in food prices. And in the case of thieves everywhere, what other place is safer than a provincial capital?

Li Yan had no choice but to retreat to see if he could send someone to learn how to make gunpowder. After some discussion, the artillery workshop finally agreed to help him replace his two apprentices, but he had to pay an apprenticeship fee of 500 taels. Their skills are very dangerous, they have to be supervised by the local government, and they are also risky to give them apprentices.

That's it, Li Yan is quite satisfied, at least he can make his own gunpowder.