The guy was just about to remind Hua Chi loudly, but was stopped by Liu He.

Liu He gave Wei Xiao a look, and Wei Xiao immediately took out a piece of silver from his arms and handed it to the guy.

The man took the money, and was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth, and immediately retreated downstairs lightly.

Liu He waved his hand and said to the others: "You all go back first, rest and rest, and then come to my house when it is time for dinner." ”

After seeing everyone else go downstairs, Liu He walked towards Hua Chi.

He quietly came to Hua Chi's side and sat down.

Hua Chi still didn't notice Liu He's arrival, and still sat there motionless, looking at the distance in a daze.

After a long time, Hua Chi suddenly sighed to himself.

"What? Got something on your mind? Liu He asked with a smile.

Hua Chi was startled, turned his head and saw that it was Liu He, but he looked like he wanted to speak and stopped.

Liu He looked at Hua Chi, who was obviously a little abnormal, and said calmly: "If you have something to say, just ask if you want to ask, between our brothers, there is anything that can't be said." ”

Hua Chi lowered his head, was silent for a long time, and asked in a low voice.

"You said before that no one in your hometown would look down on businessmen, is it true?"

Liu He was stunned for a moment and said with a smile: "Of course it's true, can I still lie to you." ”

"Then why don't you bother with this!" Hua Chi raised his head suddenly, his expression was extremely excited, "Do you know that if this decree continues to be implemented like this, the merchants in the entire Chengdu City will not be able to bear it sooner or later!" ”

"Decree? What decree? Liu He frowned, "I have been away from Chengdu for a few months, and I have just come back, and I have never heard of the decree you said." ”

"You really don't know?" Hua Chi stared at Liu He's eyes tightly.

"You don't believe me?" Liu He did not avoid Hua Chi's gaze.

The two have been friends for a long time, and they have a little tacit understanding, and there is no need for Liu He to explain, Hua Chi can also see from his eyes that what he said is true.

Hua Chi smiled bitterly, although there was bitterness on the corner of his mouth, he seemed to have a hint of relief.

"I just believe in you, that's why I've been guarding this drunken immortal building and waiting for you to come back."

Seeing Hua Chi's appearance, Liu He knew that this incident was so widespread and influential that it was probably much more serious than he thought before.

It seems that the root of all the problems lies in the new decree that Hua Chi said.

When Liu He understood the content of this decree clearly, he was furious on the spot.

A few days after he left, Chengdu City issued a new decree, which was issued for all merchants.

It stands to reason that it is normal for the government to issue several decrees to manage Chengdu's commerce, and even if it is a little stricter in the past, the reaction of merchants is generally not too strong.

But as soon as this decree was introduced, it immediately attracted the dissatisfaction of the merchants in the city, especially in the first month, when there was almost a riot.

This decree stipulates that the tax rate of all merchants will be adjusted from the original 20% to 70%, and this proportion will be further increased according to the size of the merchants.

Taxation is the lifeblood of a country, and the people have never expected to pay taxes, which can rise sharply from two percent to seventy percent, no matter in which dynasty, it is unprecedented.

Take Hua Chi's drunken immortal building as an example, according to the provisions of the law, he not only has to pay the most basic seventy percent tax, but also directly reaches the highest tax rate due to the large amount of turnover.

The highest tax rate has reached a staggering 90%.

Hua Chi calculated an account for Liu He, a restaurant, the cost of raw materials and labor alone accounts for nearly forty percent, plus in order to ensure the freshness of the food, there will be a large amount of raw material loss, so generally speaking, the real profit and cost of a restaurant is basically half and half.

That is to say, according to the original tax rate of 20%, excluding half of the cost, the restaurant can still have 30% of the profit.

But if it is calculated according to the current tax rate, even if there is no waste of raw materials, it will only lose money and not make money.

Under this tax rate, not only are all restaurants unbearable, but all walks of life are squeezed and have no profit at all, and there is no possibility of making money.

And the person who drafted this decree seems to have known about this situation for a long time, and even added another article after it in a frenzy.

All the shops are not allowed to close their doors, and they are not allowed to lay off their people.

As a result, the shopkeepers who originally wanted to close the door and slip away were all dumbfounded.

Isn't this a clear attempt to grab money from the merchants' pockets?

But he knew that it was a robbery, but he didn't dare not give it, and the law was clearly written, and anyone who closed the business or dismissed his buddies without authorization would be assigned to the army.

Listening to Hua Chi talk about this, Liu He finally figured out why all the restaurants in Chengdu only sell the cheapest somen noodles.

If you don't let you close the store or dismiss your partner, you will have to pay seventy percent of the tax, and if the business is better, you have to pay more.

The better the business, the bigger it is, the more you will lose, rather than this, it is better to have a bad business, and it is better to pay some of your guys' wages than to lose your family.

It stands to reason that guys don't have to work, white-collar workers, should be happy, right? But if you ask carefully, it's not like that at all.

The man's salary is only enough for the most basic daily expenses, and the real big head is all up to their own mouths to ask for rewards.

No one came to eat, and naturally no one gave a reward, so the guys were also depressed all day long, and they couldn't keep up their spirits.

This kind of heart-wrenching decree made Liu He angrier and angrier the more he listened.

Since coming to Chengdu, Liu He has always been very relieved to leave all internal affairs to Zhuge Liang, and with Zhuge Liang's intelligence, he will definitely not issue such a decree.

But there is one point, but Liu He is puzzled.

The promulgation of all decrees must be Zhuge Liang's nod in the end, how could Zhuge Liang agree to such a stupid decree?

"Brother Liu, hurry up and think of a way to abolish this decree, if it goes on like this, Chengdu City will really be finished!"

This is the first time Liu He has seen Hua Chi so anxious, and even when their Hua family encountered a crisis before, his reaction was not so fierce.

"Abolition must be abolished, but we must first find out, whose idea is it to issue such a decree?" Liu He clenched his silver teeth, and the teacup in his hand was crushed in response.

Hua Chi glanced at Liu He cautiously, with a hint of embarrassment on his face, "At the beginning of the promulgation of this decree, all the big businessmen in the city were called and explained in person. I was also present at the time, and the seal on it belonged to Mr. Zhuge . ”