The speed of Dou Qiong's three escorting the two ancestors and grandchildren is not slow, and it will definitely cost more than 800 miles to change a good horse, don't look at the current Mindao, which is much smoother and wider than the previous official road.

In the past, the official road belonged to the people arranged by the imperial court to cultivate, and every year the people must volunteer, and if they do not work, they will pay money, that is, rent a maid to transfer the maid inside, and they can also call for service.

If you can't think of work, it's easy to do, and replace it with things, the tax of the imperial court is actually passed on to the common people, and the tax of merchants is levied at one time according to the proportion of assets.

Moreover, the commercial tax is very non-standardized, many times it is calculated according to the number of people, but the calculation of this person is in terms of agricultural tax, so the status of the farmer is higher than that of the businessman, but it is very serious in the tax burden, and it is not cost-effective.

After Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan came, they began to encourage the imperial court to levy special commercial taxes, and at the beginning, they collected relatively little in proportion.

In the previous years, it was not easy to collect business taxes, but even if it was not easy, the increase in the revenue of the imperial court was very obvious.

When Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan occupied a stable position, commercial taxes began to increase, and until last year's large-scale tax sharing system, there was no one in Datang to stop it. Whether it is an official, a family, or a commercial implicit association, in the face of the powerful two, there is no second way to go except to honestly exchange interests with them.

Last year's treasury revenue was 100 million yuan, and I believe that this year it will definitely reach more than 250 million yuan.

Previously it was polarized. Officials and businessmen on the one hand, workers and peasants on the other, and the forces that control absolute resources do not pay much in taxes.

Now it is levied according to the amount of income, at the cost of Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan plus Li Longji giving up the right to distribute railway transportation, which Li Longji shows is depressed and uncomfortable, in fact, he is much stronger than before, at least the treasury and his internal funds are full. But that's what people are like, the more they get, the more they want to get, the more they want to get, they have to make inches, and they have to look at Shu.

In this regard, Zhang Xiaobao discussed at that time to let Li Longji wait for a few years with peace of mind. Then, as the resources of the railroad increase, it is natural for those who make the exchange of benefits to know what they have lost.

Wang Juan believes that things will eventually go according to Zhang Xiaobao's vision, not to mention that people now don't understand Taidu's economic means. Even if he understands, he can't play Zhang Xiaobao, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to cheat so much money at the beginning.

Therefore, when the court was building roads for the people, the people were very reluctant to work, they were lazy if they could, and they were lazy if they could, and they were grinders if they could, and the most important thing was that the people did not have the strength to work, and the court did not care about eating and drinking, and even the tools were not distributed.

In such a situation, trying to repair the road is tantamount to a fool's dream.

The reason why Minlu is good at the moment. That is the people's yearning for a better life in the future and their own economic foundation has something to do with it, it is a kind of spontaneous labor behavior, plus there are businessmen to help pay, everyone has the same goal, and a smoother and wider road than the official road has emerged.

This is how real macroeconomic regulation and control are. It is a little worse than doing nothing, but following its laws, and directly ordering the people to do what they want them to do, it is better to provide him with a good policy environment, and then you will find out. The little rain and dew you paid to the people, and the people returned you with willow green flowers.

Of course, the premise of all this lies in the ratio between the competence and integrity of the executors in power. It's not that the more honest the better, and it's not that the stronger the ability, the better, and the balance between trade-offs is the way.

Horses kick and wheels roll.

Dou Qiong and the three of them are in front, the two are on the left and right, there is no coachman in the carriage, the old man can't drive the car, he doesn't even have livestock, where can he learn to drive the car.

The mule who pulls the cart is not a new 'man', and knows that he has to follow the road, not to the side, and at the same time knows how to keep the same speed as the rider as much as possible, unless he is running too fast.

The child, who had never been in a carriage, looked at the scenery on both sides and looked backwards, showing great excitement, while the old man was nervous, he already knew that the person he was going to see was too big to think that he would be afraid that he would be cut off by others if he said the wrong thing, and he was even more worried that his grandson would be affected by himself.

So he sat down in the driver's seat, and on the other side was his grandson, both of whom were holding the wheels tightly with their hands, expressing their nervousness and excitement.

"Little brother, how long is it left?" The old man's body moved with the slight jolt of the car, and he shouted to the person on his left.

"Don't worry, in more than half an hour, the mules are running slowly, and the military horses have already entered the city." The person who partnered with Dou Qiong shouted at the old man, he was also looking forward to it, don't look at him knowing about other people's little treasure juan, but people don't know him at all, it's not good to have no reason to see people, in case he delays other people's business, after being known by others, he is likely to be killed.

"Are they good talking? After a while, I was scared and couldn't speak, and my little brother wanted to help. The old man shouted again.

"Okay." The second person began to get nervous, worried that he would not even be able to stand when they met for a while, and he would still help others speak?

Sure enough, half an hour later, five people came to the city gate of Yizhou, saying that it was the city gate, but it was actually dilapidated, the top of the city wall was bald, and there was a lot of grass growing in various places, and the city gate did not know where to run, and the other one was open inward, and the paint on it was gone, and it seemed that no one had wiped it after being rained, and there were a lot of green hairs.

The speed of the three horses and one cart slowed down, and there was a team in the city coming out, and more than half of the people had already passed, and Dou Qiong was not good at letting the family retreat, so he could only wait.

The old man in the car looked at the city gate and city wall, and his heart suddenly became unstable, and asked, "Little brother, the city is broken and no one repairs it?" Even if you put the gates on. ”

"I don't know who took the city gate, and the remaining half of it should be almost gone, good wood, making boats and repairing houses, I suddenly remembered that the disappeared half of the door was in the yamen of the state capital, divided into two large pieces, and used as a notice board." The man on the left side of the carriage had a good memory, and actually remembered where the city gate was.

In fact, it is not cost-effective to make a notice board at the city gate, it is not a thin board, it is similar to a wall, and the advantage of being a notice board is that it is strong and durable. Even pedaling ladders to climb up to sleep.

Dou Qiong glanced at the team out of the city a few times, and knew each other, but the business of people was big, and there was usually no contact, and he just nodded when he met occasionally, and now he also nodded, and after nodding, he said to the old man: "Don't be afraid." Walking straight west from Yizhou is Tubo, and if someone really calls, they must fight Tubo first, and wait until here. Our cannons are on the table, and it's useless to ask for the city gates.

Uncle, where is your hometown? It's not from Tibet, is it? Otherwise, you should know more about it. Do you have a lot of cannibalism there? ”

"It's over there, saying it's going to go diagonally to the north, I haven't come out, and I've turned around a lot while walking, I can't remember how I walked, what you said was that one who always shouted in his mouth, la, la, no? Yes, there are also those who chant Buddha, and we have a lot of chaos there.

If you go south from the mountain, a little farther away, you will often be frequented by people. There are also people who come back, shouting and shouting and ......shouting and I'm not going to tell you. ”

The old man, who had never traveled far before, obviously did not have more detailed knowledge of geography, and he did not even know where he belonged. Anyway, I heard that the east side is good, and his son and daughter-in-law came first, so he followed.

The team had finished speaking, Dou Qiong hurriedly urged the horse, and when he entered the door, he didn't meet anyone who stopped the inspection or collected the entrance fee, and he didn't have the confidence and the poor place did that. Now it is not needed in Datang.

Entering the city, Dou Qiong dismounted, grabbed the mule's halter, and slowed down so as not to hit pedestrians. Although the main road in the city is in the middle for the cattle to walk, but if you have no special circumstances, if you hit a person in the middle of the horse, you will be punished very severely, and only when there is a military emergency, you will be killed in vain, and whoever lets the person who is hit cross the main road does not look at the point.

The grandparents and grandchildren could no longer see it, and the city was different from the outside, the main road was wide, lined with 'high' buildings, and they didn't know any of the signs and words written on the shop signs and banners one by one.

"Don't live in people?" The old man asked in surprise.

"You're talking about a private house, right? Behind, near the main road are shops, and then walk for about 20 minutes, that is, more than a quarter of an hour, which is considered to be the place. ”

Dou Qiong is not a qualified tour guide, people obviously come for the first time, and they don't give people a good introduction, such as where there are many local specialties, unique snacks, or where there are scenic spots, he doesn't say anything.

The two grandparents couldn't see it, how could they have the heart to ask other things, the little guy was attracted by the smell wafting from the roadside restaurant, he had eaten a steamed bun before, a bowl of wontons and a big apple, he didn't do any exercise at all, but he felt hungry.

Twenty minutes of time for the grandparents and grandchildren passed quickly, not waiting to see enough to arrive at the outside of the Bihai Yinsha Restaurant, because Yizhou is one of the important 'cities' of the Tang Dynasty, the Bihai Yinsha is very high, there are four floors, all the same glass windows, the first and second floors are the direct windows adjacent to the street, the third and fourth floors are the outer corridors, and the tents are built on the top, so that the diners can come outside to blow the wind, and at the same time watch the living beings below.

Moreover, there are many courtyards behind the main building of the restaurant, and the fee is not low, and those who pay a little attention to this know that its main dish is seafood.

"Here we are." Dou Qiong said to the old man.

The old man took a closer look at the restaurant and nodded: "I can eat here, I am really a big official." ”

"His family lives here, and there are other places, and I don't know where he is today, so it's always right to ask." Dou Qiong raised his legs and walked towards the door, it was not open now, and there was no sound of people eating inside.

"Oh! Doesn't it cost a lot to stay one night? "The old man felt that he would not be able to live in it for the rest of his life.

"The restaurant belongs to their family, and they don't spend money to live in it themselves, and they don't charge money for accommodation." The person who was with Dou Qiong explained.

The old man was confused: "Didn't you say that you are an official?" You live here as a trader, right? ”

"Doing business while being an official, his family did business before he became an official, he is the richest person in our Datang, if his family has no money one day, it will be troublesome, their Xiaobao will suppress other businessmen in Datang, tell you that you don't understand, no Xiaobao, An's current development speed, Datang will be chaotic, you remember that they are very powerful, and they are very important to us."

"Good, great, good." The old man really didn't understand.

Dou Qiong had already knocked on the door, said a few words to the people inside, and came back to greet him: "You can go in, you are lucky today, Xiaobao and they live here, you don't have to run to other places, old man, the person just now promised, find someone from the government to come over, help you transfer your hometown to Yizhou, and then you and your grandson talked to Xiaobao and they talked and went with the people from the yamen."

The little one goes to school. When you go to a place for retirement, you can work and be idle, and you can also let people arrange things for you to do for a living. ”

The old man is waiting for this, he is good to say, mainly his grandson, who can be literate, he didn't dare to think before, literacy is a person with a future. The ancestral grave will be smoking.

Thinking of Dou Qiong's statement that the people from the yamen came over, the old man said crampedly: "Let's find it ourselves, don't bother the people of the official family." ”

"No hassle. It's not troublesome at all, the Yizhou government is now temporarily taken over by Xiaobao and them, and there are many idlers. If you want to eat for nothing, you can't do it, like a mule, you will be lazy if you don't work, don't be afraid of them, they dare to give you face, you will go to the telegraph office to report.

Speaking of telegraph offices, you can ask them to help send a newspaper to Henan Province, and then ask the local government to help you find where your son is, and the famous and original place, as long as they are in Henan Province. Or if you have been to Henan Province and have done work, you are not afraid of losing it. ”

Dou Qiong was not afraid of the people who were officials, and said while leading the two of his ancestors and grandchildren into the door.

The old man was in a dream. I can't understand why the people are not afraid of officials, and when I entered the door, I saw that it was a big house, empty, with only two tables, and I was more curious about how the restaurant usually did business, so I didn't wait for him to ask. Dou Qiong said to him: "Many tables have been removed, let's wait here, learn from me, and raise your arms." ”

After speaking, Dou Qiongping raised his arm, and the same was true of the two people who were with him, the old man was dazed, and the child thought it was very interesting.

As soon as they raised their arms, someone immediately came to search them, took away the knives carried by Dou Qiong and the others, and took away the coins as well, while the ancestors and grandchildren had nothing, not even a change of clothes.

The old man understood, and it seemed that the person he wanted to see was relatively timid, and he was afraid that he and others would harm him.

After sitting on the chair, Dou Qiong reminded again: "When you see someone later, don't get up, and don't step forward, otherwise you will be easily beaten to death in the blink of an eye." ”

"The little treasure and juanjuan you said are afraid that I will do something to them?" The old man thought that he would not dare to borrow a hundred dares from himself, and sighed helplessly.

"What Xiaobao and Juan Juan, it's Xiaobei and them, change to Xiaobao and Juan Juan so you don't have to worry about us, I heard the storyteller said, the two of them are powerful thieves, that's what the storyteller says, the thief ...... Terrible. ”

Dou Qiong obviously doesn't understand the names of some dialects too well, just like he calls others Gua Wazi here, and some people understand the meaning but can't know why they call it that.

And praise and derogatory meaning should not only look at the literal meaning, but also look at the person, as well as the expression and tone of voice when speaking.

As soon as Dou Qiong's voice fell, a voice came from the side from behind: "Opposite, it's us, we can't beat adults, extraordinary times, safety first, ah, this kind old man is the one who is looking for us to tell us important information, haha, and a little brother who is not very brave." ”

Little Bedang came out first, smiled when he saw people, looked at the old man with his eyes, and stared at the little boy who had never seen much of the world, and his face was red and his head was lowered, and he wanted to hide but didn't know where to hide.

Xiaoyuan's eight people also came out one after another, looking at everyone, but they didn't speak.

The old man's cloudy eyes lit up, all the way to this place, he had never seen such a beautiful child, looking at the age should not be much older than his grandson, but the length was a lot taller, it must have something to do with the good food he usually eats.

"When it comes to military secrets, irrelevant people and other evasions." Xiaobei looked at Dou Qiong and the three of them, smiling.

Dou Qiong laughed and asked, "You can be regarded as unloading the mill and killing the donkey, what about your brother and your sister?" ”

"My brother was sleeping, yesterday ...... I won't tell you what's going on, my sister went to bed after eating, and when we woke up, we came over and asked first. Don't kill donkeys, there are rewards, you go to the back, someone makes seafood, you drink while resting, okay? ”

Xiaobei pointed to the side door that had just come in and said to Dou Qiong and the others.

The three of them couldn't ask for it, so they greeted the old man, went out to eat something good through the side door, and left the two grandparents to talk about things.

Xiaobei and the nine people sat opposite the grandparents and grandchildren, and some people brought juice and pastries specially prepared for the little boy, and tea in front of the old man.

"Grandpa has worked hard all the way, let's talk, let's listen, we can deal with it, we can deal with it, and if we can't deal with it, we will find my brother and sister, little brother, eat quickly, and when I get to my sister, it will be considered home."

Xiaobei held her hands on the cup and spoke to her grandparents.

The old man was very surprised, he thought about many kinds of Xiaobao and Juan Juan that others kept mentioning, and considered how to say things. And don't be afraid.

But in any case, he could not have imagined that it was a group of children who wanted to tell him something, although these children seemed to be smarter than their own grandsons, and wore better clothes and were beautiful.

But what I want to say is a big thing, what's the use of a group of children hearing about it?

There was a sense of powerlessness in his heart, and the old man decided to say it. Anyway, you should do your best, and don't worry about anything else.

"Your name is Becky? We are far away from you, and there is no government in a large area. There are all kinds of things to say, like what you said, we also need to go down the mountain to exchange things with people to learn. We are poor, it is not easy to eat salt, the mountains have been opened, the growth is not good, and there are times when we are hunting and there are dead people.

Come down from the mountain, go north, walk for a day, there is a road, there are people on the road and come back, good luck. Tea, and salt, and when you come back from there, load it with other things, and have animal skins. There are pearls, there are seeds.

I always hear people say that some team has been killed, and there are people who can't come back, and there are people who capture slaves, it's messy, and we're not doing well. You got it? ”

After the old man finished speaking, he thought that he was talking in vain, what does a child understand? It's like his grandson, even if he is a year or two older, it doesn't matter.

Xiaobei nine people listened very seriously, and when the old man stopped, Xiaobei blinked, frowned again, and asked Xiaoyuan: "Are you talking about the Silk Road that my brother and sister are talking about?" Where did our Datang caravan go? ”

"Where?" Xiaoyuan didn't analyze where the old man's family lived at all, saying that it was a variety of languages, but the question was whether it included dialects? If the orthodox ethnic or religious language is easy to handle, there are many dialects, where to guess?

"Stupid, of course I'm talking about the Brahmaputra River that my sister mentioned, because only there was no army in place until a year ago, and the roads were not easy to walk, the population was small, and it was not under our control.

If it is replaced by the above, unless it is directly through Tibet, it is impossible, just like them, old and young, do you think that the patrol people in my family will ignore them after seeing them? Further north, I don't think they'll come alive on their own, and if you look at the clothes they're wearing, even if they're not eaten by wild beasts, they're freezing to death. ”

Xiaobei said to Xiaoyuan, and asked Xiaozhu after speaking: "Is it Sister Xiaozhu?" ”

Xiaozhu nodded: "Yes, the location of their family is not completely under the control of the esophagus, but by India, in fact, India can't control it, what conspiracy can there be for the food?" They shouldn't be walking around when they carry things, isn't it good to go their own way? ”

After she finished speaking, the nine children looked at the old man together, waiting for the old man to give an answer.

The old man was stunned, looked at the nine children in front of him, and then at his grandson, and sighed: "It's good to be literate. ”

The old man's grandson did not eat pastries or drink juice at this time, but bowed his head deeply, occasionally raised his head to look at the girls opposite, and continued to bow his head very embarrassed, looking very cramped and uneasy.

The old man shook his head slightly, not planning to compare his grandson with others, and said to Xiaobei Jiu with a little reassurance: "When we came out, we heard people on the road that there were people shouting Ahla Ahla and Lala who were there to exchange things with people, did you say that you eat more?" ”

"Yes, there are also people who call it Dashi, that is, they are, Allah is the god in their hearts, just like Buddhism always says Amitabha. We're going to fight them, and we're going to go to war right away, for ...... reason The reason is very simple, the older brothers and sisters said that they had good things and we needed them, so they hit.

Their place is not small, anyway, we don't fight them now, and when they think they can beat us, they will also call us, grandpa, you go on, what do they change? ”

Becky really didn't want to think of high-sounding reasons.

The old man thinks this excuse is very good, I am better than you, you have what I need, I will beat you and grab it, that's right.

Then he said, "They don't change things all the time, I heard people say that what kind of change is the one who is told everywhere, what kind of change is changed, what is changed for poisonous snakes, and other poisonous things. In addition to changing things there, they also spent money to find someone to help deliver them, and they found a lot of people in the place where we came down from the mountain to change things.

I found people, gave money to the people who were looking for them, and told them that they would come back after helping to deliver things, and the things sent were a lot of wood in the mountains, and I didn't know what they wanted. ”

The old man nodded vigorously after speaking, meaning that he had nothing else.

After speaking, the old man was not stunned, and began to change to Xiaobei and the nine people in a daze, looking at each other, and what they saw from the eyes of others was all puzzled.

"What's going on?" Xiaobei muttered: "Use poison? Down into the river or smeared on weapons? How much poison does it have to put into the river water to poison the person who takes the water to drink? Do they know when we will get water? It's gone. Could it be that they have developed the same chemical weapons as we do? ”

Xiaoyuan followed: "Where the old man's family lives, do we have an army?" Ah, yes, then it's useless for them to ask for wood, maybe they don't know that our artillery fire can easily destroy walls and camps made of wood? ”

Xiao Yuan was talking about the previous small-scale friction warfare training, and occasionally Datang also had artillery support, but it was not in the place where the old man said, but further north.

It is impossible for the news not to pass through, and the power of artillery fire will not be clear to many cannibals?

"Don't think about it, tell your brother and sister so as not to delay time." Xiao Hai couldn't guess it, and he didn't plan to continue to rely on the strength of his nine people to analyze, in case he made a mistake, it would be very troublesome.

Xiaobei nodded, and said to the old man: "Grandpa, you and your little brother are waiting here, you want to eat the identity of the person to send it, after a while, someone from the government will come here and go through the formalities for you, we will go to my brother and sister first, the information you sent, I believe it will be very useful to us, and you will be rewarded when the matter is over." ”

Xiaobei doesn't know if it's useful or not, but he can't say it directly, it's not good to chill people's hearts.

After speaking, the nine people got up and left, and went to find their brothers and sisters.

Immediately, someone came over and asked the grandparents what they liked to eat, and introduced more than a dozen kinds for them to choose.

The old man didn't refuse, he could not eat, but his grandson was hungry, and he now understood very well that Xiaobao had money in his family, and he couldn't be bitter about his grandson, so he told the person who asked to arrange a few things casually, and then touched his grandson's head and said, "You must study hard, did you see the nine brothers and sisters just now?" Study hard to be like them. ”

"Can you bring that little shell home?" The little boy is obviously precocious, knows a lot of things, and starts Xiaobei's idea.

The old man was startled and comforted his grandson and said, "There will be better than her in the future, she can't, she ...... You don't understand, it's not the same person. ”

The little boy obviously didn't understand the difference in identity, and simply thought that everyone in the world was the same, nodding, but with a look of disbelief in his eyes.

******

When Xiaobei and the others found the place where their brothers and sisters lived, Wang Juan and Zhang Xiaobao, who had already received the news, were standing at the door of the house waiting.

"Confused, brother, I'm really confused today, we didn't analyze what the old man said." Xiaobei immediately complained when she saw her brother and sister, as if she thought she was stupid.

"Tell me, what did the old man mention?" Zhang Xiaobao asked with a smile.

The nine children began to talk about you and me one by one, and after they finished speaking, they looked at their brothers and sisters, waiting for answers.

As a result, Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan also frowned.

"You go and do your own thing first, I'll discuss it with your sister and tell you later." couldn't guess for a while, Zhang Xiaobao instructed his younger brothers and sisters.

The nine little guys left helplessly, leaving Zhang Xiaobao and Wang Juan looking at each other.

The two returned to the house, spread out the military map, looked at it, and locked the location.

"This place was supposed to be fought at noon tomorrow, but it belongs to India, and many cannibals are not in the right position on the Tibetan side, so what are you doing in the theoretical jurisdiction of India? Poisonous stuff and wood are also collected. ”

Wang Juan pointed to the place on the map and said to Zhang Xiaobao.

Zhang Xiaobao yawned, thought about it, and said: "It is estimated that they feel that there is no hope of victory, so they committed suicide while taking poison, and at the same time played **, and then caused international public opinion, which made me afraid of Datang." ”。。 )