While the merchants were whispering, most of the officials who had come to watch the ceremony arrived.

Today, there are officials, businessmen, and official prostitutes who have been invited to participate in the performance, and under the gaze of so many pairs of eyes, the first train of railroad carriages full of grain is about to be transported through Fangcheng Mountain.

It has been a month since the Fangcheng track was put into use. In the one-month trial operation stage before the wharves of Shanyin and Shanyang ports were repaired, the rail capacity was opened to ordinary pedestrians and business travelers at the calculated cost price. Let them show the benefits of rail transportation.

After a month of running-in, the officials and soldiers who were dealing with the errands in Shanyang Port and Sanyin Port were already familiar with the work at hand, and when the officials and businessmen gathered, they did not have any panic, and everything was in order.

Shen Kuo arrived in Fangcheng County two days ago, and came to Shanyang Port early this morning. The arrival of the former Hanlin and the current Zhizhou, Shen Kuo, immediately made Hong Kong boil. Behind him there were more than 20 people, half of whom were from the state department.

"Fang Guan Gou, hasn't Han Longtu come yet?" Fang Cheng Zhixian asked Fang Xing.

Fang Xing shook his head: "Long Tu won't come." Two days ago, Long Tu also sent a letter saying that he would celebrate with wine after the success. ”

The implication is naturally that the current opening ceremony is not ready to be attended.

"Is something wrong?" Fangcheng Zhixian further asked.

Fang Xing shook his head, although he was a staff member, it did not mean that he knew about Han Gang's personal affairs. Compared to when he was rescuing the injured in Baima County, he and Han Gang already had more of a relationship between superiors and subordinates.

He glanced at Fang Cheng Zhixian, an official who was already middle-aged and wealthy, and his eyes were full of disappointment that had been eagerly transformed.

'Bad luck. Fang Xing thought, if Han Gang came, he would be able to make a familiar face.

"There are so many people here today." Fang Xing interrupted, "I really don't know how many of them are to see the excitement; How many are planning to come to find out, and they are planning to spend some money to taste the freshness and see if the track can seriously transport the goods to the north; And how many are waiting to be transported by water in the future? ”

Fang Cheng Zhixian was still listless, and dealt with it casually: "Three-one-thirty-one." ”

"I feel like I'm still ready to take a car." Fang Xing said, "There shouldn't be much water transportation, after all, I haven't understood the amount of freight." They all act in a steady manner. ”

The cost of simple water transportation is very low, but the Xianghan Cao transportation has to pass through the Fangcheng track in the middle, which increases the transportation cost. However, there are still a lot of people who want to take a ride in a railcar, just to try it.

"But at the moment, there is no extra capacity, so they can only be disappointed." Fang Xing smiled at Fangcheng Zhixian and sighed, "This year is a special situation, we have to transport 600,000 Shigang grain into the capital within 40 days, and there is no spare time for passenger transportation. By next year, things will be much better. ”

"Okay?! ......" Fangcheng Zhixian reluctantly raised his spirits, and his sneering lips were two more perverse, "I don't know who will collect the taxes and pay the fees on this Fangcheng track?" ”

The smile on Fang Xing's face was gone, and his eyes became sharp, was this angry, or was he really planning to fight for the ownership of taxes and fees?

For the local prefectures and counties and the supervisors representing the imperial court, the distribution of rights and interests comes first.

The Fangcheng Rail is a part of Caoyun Transportation. The boat is on the water, and there is no rule for charging tolls. Before the passenger and freight traffic of the track opened, no one realized that it was a lucrative business—'except for Han Gang, who had made the rules,' perhaps Fang Xing—but now, anyone who saw the interest of the merchants in the track could hear the clanging of copper plates.

The track is located in Fangcheng Mountain, across Ruzhou and Tangzhou, and whose income should be counted as earned through the track?

With the importance of Xianghan Cao Yun, the income of passenger and freight transportation, over the course of a year, there are always tens of thousands of thousands. If Ruzhou and Tangzhou are added to the five, the governors of the two prefectures, as well as the magistrates of Fangcheng County and Ye County, can get a good performance appraisal, and they can also fish in the troubled waters. But this money, if it is included in the books of the Transit Division, is also beneficial to the transit envoys.

After staring at Fang Cheng and the county for a while, Fang Xing suddenly smiled and said, "If the tax is passed, of course Cao Si will not compete with the state and county." ”

Fangcheng Zhixian was not fooled, "In addition to Shanyang Port, where else can Tangzhou collect taxes?" ”

On ordinary official roads, merchants carry goods through the state and county, and tax cards are indispensable to serve. Passing through a customs pass is a tax of 2 percent - this is called a tax.

For what is said to say, 'Don't sell for thousands of miles, don't sell wood for a hundred miles', that is, the profits of rice and firewood are too small, and the freight and taxes are deducted, and the farther you ship, the more you lose. Even if they sell not rice, firewood and other household goods, but only some valuable goods such as silk, cotton cloth, medicinal herbs, and spices, they still have to pay most of the cost and taxes several times. Commercial goods that are sold cheaply in the place of origin or at the port where the goods are loaded have soared several times when they arrive in the capital.

So the merchants hated the tax card, but they had to pay the tax. They are not smuggled salt, they can carry their burdens and walk on the paths in the mountains, and if they can carry their own goods with them, they can take them into the mountains, and most of them will be robbed by others. It is said that it is a peaceful and prosperous world, but in this world, only a salt lord with a ruthless role like Huang Chao has the courage to walk through the barren mountains and mountains.

But how to tax vehicles running on the tracks?

The track obviously has a characteristic that it cannot be stopped at will. Once the carriage stops on the tracks, I don't know how much time it will take, just like this, the car behind can't go ahead of it, and if it stops in front, it must stop behind. As a result, the whole road had to be interrupted.

Therefore, in Hangang's regulations, all railroad carriages cannot stop at will on the road. If something happens to the horse, leave the horse and continue on the road, and if the car breaks down, pull the car off the track, and never empty the road.

All the drivers and escorts have undergone pre-job training at the request of Han Gang, and the emergency plan should be memorized by them, once the emergency incident is not dealt with according to the plan, it is a heavy penalty without words.

Since it is impossible for a horse-drawn carriage running on two rails to stop, let alone pull a deer's antlers on the road to sit on the ground and divide the wealth, the only way to collect taxes from the passengers and cargo owners sitting on the railroad is to get on and off the carriage.

The tax card is set up in a county with a small number of two or three, which is an extremely important source of finance for the states and counties on the main transportation routes, and at the same time it is a cornucopia for local officials, who get far more money from the roads than the government. But once a business traveler gets on a ship in San'in and Sanyang ports, and the ship passes through the state and county, what is the use of the tax card?

In fact, the track of Fangcheng is good, it is only sixty miles, and it is only related to Fangcheng in Tangzhou and Yexian in Ruzhou, which is the two sections of the long Cao Canal, and there are also precedents of the Bianhe River or the Wuzhang River in Jingdong that can be followed.

But if a longer track is built in the future, two hundred or three hundred miles, through multiple state capitals, then the problem will be serious, and it will cause a lot of tax loss.

"Han Longtu is said to have a belly case there."

"What belly?"

"It's a belly case, how do you know about it?" Fang Xing said with a smile, "But one thing is for sure, Long Tu will not let the imperial court lose money. ”

……………………

Bowing his head to review the official documents that will never decrease, Lu Huiqing suddenly raised his head, "The grain in western Beijing is about to start being delivered." ”

"Xianghan Caoyun should be opened today or tomorrow, right?" Lu Shengqing was surprised. "Didn't you say that you would wait until the wharves at the ports of San'in and Shanyang were repaired before you started transporting grain?"

"The dock has not been repaired, and the grain cannot be transported. However, ordinary pedestrians can already walk this line, and it has been open for a month. Many people who have taken the railroad carriage on the Fangcheng track have already arrived in the capital. ”

"Do you praise a lot, or do you scold a lot?" Lu Shengqing asked.

"I didn't hear a few people scolding, most of them applauded. The cost is small and the speed is fast," Lu Huiqing casually put aside the business in hand, "When the matter of Jingxi is over, I would like to propose that he go to Hebei to preside over the construction of the track." I wonder if he wants to monopolize the whole work? Or would you like everyone to share a point? ”

"It's not a matter of dividing the merits." Lu Shengqing shook his head, "Some people want to ascend to the sky in one step, go to the Wu Temple to scold the Buddha and scold the ancestors, and they can go straight to the sky." And Han Gang is dedicated to doing things, and he has a sacred heart more than taking the road of imperial history. Even if you force yourself to hang a name, you will offend people at the end. Anyway, he can't go back to the capital, if he wants to go to Hebei and let him go to school by himself, why bother to provoke him? ”

In fact, Lu Huiqing knew very well that Han Gang was doing things outside, and the results he obtained would help the country and be of great benefit to stabilizing the political situation of the court. In this case, of course, Han Gang can't be allowed to return to Beijing, and he has to be allowed to run from state to state.

The most common result of political disputes in the court is that one side gains power and the other side goes out. The losing side will not be punished too much. Not being able to hold office in the DPRK is a symbol of political failure.

Since Han Gang is currently going to serve as a foreign official for a short period of time, none of the important ministers in the court are willing to get along with him. The Son of Heaven did not dare to reuse him, it did not mean that the Son of Heaven did not expect his results, if someone interfered with the serious things that Han Gang did, the Son of Heaven would not spare him. It's just that Lu Huiqing has other ideas.

"Find someone who seems to be okay and let him propose to lay a track in Hebei. The benefits of transporting troops and blocking the enemy made him talk about it lively. Lu Huiqing raised his hand to stop his younger brother who wanted to advise, "Wang Yuyu wanted to stabilize his position, and even supported Chong Ge to attack Xingling directly. It just so happens that there is this opportunity right now, and it is good to block him. ”

"Han Gang supports the plantation?"

Lu Huiqing shook his head: "I don't know the way, but there is no need to know the way." Didn't I let him continue to make meritorious contributions? ”