Most of the trade transactions in the wilderness were bartered, and the value of the goods purchased by the merchants in Ba Yuan could be increased many times when they were transported to Shanshui City.

But the benefits of the world are not so easy to obtain, the caravan has to walk in the desolate and steep mountains for more than ten days, many places are still rugged and difficult to travel, sometimes they have to encounter the threat of torrential rains, poisonous insects and beasts, cattle and horses may be lost, often need to hire samurai guards, every time in and out of the wilderness is a very costly adventure, but also very profitable.

The Council of Elders of Shanshui City also saw the etiquette, so they suggested to Qingshan that Shanshui City could also organize caravans to trade in Ba Yuan. This road was opened up by Shanshui City, and the benefits could not all be occupied by the original caravans of Ba. If you want to walk through the mountains with heavy loads, who can compare to the tribesmen who have lived in the wilderness since childhood?

Qingshan also felt that it made sense, so he handed over this matter to the Huahai Patriarch to be responsible. The Huahai patriarch organized the products and manpower in the various tribes, and organized a caravan to trade in Bayuan. The places where goods are sold and exchanged are, of course, mainly in the bazaars of the high city. Gaocheng is the closest city on the edge of Bayuan to this wilderness, and the people of Shanshui City can't get around Gaocheng out of the wilderness.

When the caravans of Shanshui City entered Gaocheng, they encountered something they had never thought of, that is, to pay taxes. It was not without cost to build castles and bazaars to provide a safe place for people to buy and sell and get what they wanted. The tax levied by the various cities on the Bayuan to the caravans entering the city for trading was basically 1 out of 30, that is, if you transported 30 animal skins, you had to hand over one.

Most of the time, caravans were taxed in kind. After receiving these things, they were either distributed to the people who worked for them, or they were sold in a special shop in the market. There are also caravans that pay taxes in currency, which is the intermediary of transactions and the money used by people. Gold, silver, and cloth can all be used as coins. At that time, the most used by the people was shell coins, and there were no sea shells in Ba Yuan, and people used pottery shell coins.

Although the caravan in Shanshui City was surprised, they also paid the tax according to the regulations, and when they returned, they reported the matter to the Council of Elders. The elders of Shanshui City discussed for a long time, and most of them agreed that Shanshui City also levies taxes on foreign caravans. Since it is the decision of the Presbyterian Church. The castle lord of Qingshan City agreed.

However, there is no city gate in Shanshui City, and there is no shadow of even the city wall, so the place of taxation is located in Shanshui Pass, which is the gateway to enter and exit this wilderness, and the tax rate is the same as that of Gaocheng, which is also one out of thirty. There is no tax on customs clearance. Taxes are only paid at the time of entry, and Shanshui City's own caravans are of course exempt from taxes.

This practice of Shanshui City is very normal, and almost all the cities on the Bayuan also do this, but when the news reached Gaocheng, the lord of Yuegeng was very unhappy. Some time ago, the trade route was opened, and Yue Geng organized the caravans of Gaocheng to go to the wilderness to trade, of course, it was earned. He almost monopolized this source of wealth, and because of the geographical location, it was impossible for other cities to compete with him.

But it wasn't long before Shanshui City organized its own caravan to come to Gaocheng, and they learned quite quickly! Moreover, these people had lived in the wilderness since childhood, and explained that the trained and selected strong samurai were better at traversing such roads, and the speed of going back and forth was faster. The caravan of Bayuan has made two round-trips, while the caravan of Shanshui City has made more than three round-trips. They shipped the wild products directly to Gaocheng to sell, and then bought the things produced in Bayuan locally. What was needed the most was all kinds of utensils and cattle, horses, and livestock, which of course reduced the profits of the Gaocheng caravans.

With more cattle, horses, and livestock, not only did the level of production in the wilderness increase, but the caravans were able to carry more goods. That's it, Gao Cheng can't stop the caravan from outside. Fortunately, there is more tax revenue. But then Shanshui City also began to collect taxes, and most of the people who paid the taxes were the caravans of Gaocheng.

Gao Cheng had a monopoly on this source of wealth, and the caravan organized by Yue Geng had a high profit at first, but now his profit has dropped significantly. Of course, the city lord of Yuegeng was very dissatisfied, in his eyes, it didn't matter who the city lord of Shanshui City was, Qingshan was nothing more than another big fish shell. He was still waiting for Qingshan's stammering and sending all kinds of benefits, but he didn't expect Qingshan to take him so indifferently.

So Yue Geng issued an order, and the tax on the caravans from Shanshui City was increased by two times, becoming one out of ten, while the caravans from other cities were still the same as the original thirty out of one. After the news reached Shanshui City, the elders were furious and demanded that Aoyama raise the tax on the caravans in Gaocheng to 1 out of ten. Qingshan shook his head and said, "If someone does something stupid and shouldn't be, should we follow suit?"

The tax on goods at Shanshui Pass remained unchanged at one out of thirty, while Gaocheng alone collected high-priced taxes on the caravans in Shanshui City. It didn't take long for that to change.

To enter the territory of Shanshui City, one must pass through the Shanshui Pass, and no caravan can avoid this pass. But Gaocheng is different, Ba Yuan's caravan can not enter the city at all, only trade in the nearby villages, although it is very troublesome to do trading, but it is also more advantageous than entering the city.

Moreover, the tribesmen in the wilderness were originally very honest, and when the sergeants guarding the gate asked them where they came from, they would answer truthfully, and their clothes were not the same as those of other people in Ba Yuan, so they were easy to identify. But after a long time, because of the choice of interests, people naturally learn to be cunning and disguise. Some caravans in Shanshui City dressed up as Ba Yuan residents, and when they entered the city, they lied that they came from other places, and the tax they paid was still 1 out of 30.

Therefore, Gao Cheng's approach did not gain any benefits, but made the caravan more willing to trade in Shanshui City. The practice of the Shanshui City caravan was also noticed by Lord Yuegeng, so he ordered people to pay attention to the investigation, which led to two very serious conflicts.

A caravan from Shanshui City panicked that it was from another city, and the sergeant guarding the city also learned well when he heard the order, and found that the goods were all barbaric specialties, so according to the order of the lord of Yuegeng, not only to confiscate the goods, but also to arrest people in front of the gate of the city lord's mansion to be shown to the public. The gang blew up the nest on the spot and started with the sergeants defending the city.

Shanshui City sent caravan members, among whom there were no old, weak, sick or disabled, all of them were brave and good fighters. The number of sergeants guarding the city gate on weekdays is not too large, and they are not opponents at all when they fight, and they are beaten one by one with blue noses and swollen faces.

These savages also knew that they were in trouble, and they did not even want the goods they were carrying, so they led their horses and abandoned their oxen, and ran away before the great army of men and horses in the city arrived. Such an incident made the lord of Yuegeng deeply angry, and happened to receive a report that there was still a caravan in Shanshui City that was trading with people in the villages outside the city, so he sent a patrol army to take the punishment.

There are more than 30 people in this army formation, lined up with swords, guns and weapons, the leader is a Second Realm monk, and there are two squad leaders who have refined the strength of the mountain, and of course it is easy to deal with ordinary people. As a result, they were unlucky, because the leaders of this caravan from Shanshui City were Bo Zhuang and Yue Niu'er.

Bo Zhuang is a monk who has attained perfection in the Second Realm, a soldier in Shanshui City, and at the same time has practiced the martial arts in the strength of the mountain, while Yue Niu'er is the leader of the main part of the tree in Shanshui City and a monk in the Three Realms. There were about twenty of them under their belt, all of whom were from the elite army formation trained by the Qingshan Patriarch, and all of them had been trained to open the mountain.

It is impossible for an ordinary caravan to have such an exaggerated military equipment, at most hire a few such samurai to escort them. But the caravan in Shanshui City is different, Qingshan has trained an elite military formation that is completely out of production, but it is useless in today's wilderness, and it doesn't take so many people to protect Shanshui Pass, if it is disbanded, it would be a pity, it is better to let them form a caravan, which can not only ensure the safety of the road, but also be regarded as a marching exercise.

There is a relatively large village about twenty miles away from Gaocheng, after Gaocheng levied heavy taxes on the caravans of Shanshui City, many people chose to trade here, and gradually formed a bazaar of a large scale, and today Lord Yuegeng sent a patrol army to copy this bazaar.

When Gao Cheng's army rushed in, Bo Zhuang did not hesitate to give the order to move. These elite warriors under him have all fought against all kinds of fierce beasts in the treacherous and savage wilderness all year round, and they have trained to open the mountain, and after training in battle formations, they have won a great victory as soon as they move. The team sent by Lord Yuegeng left behind more than a dozen corpses, and most of the few who survived were wounded, abandoning their knives, guns and weapons and fleeing in a hurry.

Bo Zhuang and Yue Niu'er didn't run away afterwards, they then completed the transaction, organized a team and left, and returned to Shanshui City as usual. The people took the armor and weapons they had taken, and formed a formation on the road. When Lord Yuegeng heard the news, he sent another army with a larger number of people to chase after him, but he was still defeated, and more than a dozen corpses were left behind.

Why did Bo Zhuang want to kill people? The reason is very simple, because the other party has already used swords, these savage people will naturally not show mercy, since it is a battle formation hedge, what else is there to be polite!

It was not without reason for Bo Zhuang to do it, because there was no rule in the Xiangmuro country, and the caravan had to trade in the city. It's just that it's more convenient and trouble-free to trade in the city market, even if you pay the goods tax, it's worth it, and the more people go there, the more prosperous the market and the city will be. However, Gao Cheng levied such a high tax on the caravans of Shanshui City, so there was no need to enter the city to trade anymore.

And Bo Zhuang also has an identity, he is the soldier of Shanshui City, and he was officially reported to the monarch by Shanshui City and canonized by the monarch. If the patrol sergeants of the city in Gaocheng do things that do not conform to the etiquette and law, and they also carry swords and soldiers to commit crimes, and try to assassinate the master, then of course their guards must kill the assassins with all their might.

Didn't Shanshui City build a Shanshui Pass, and all caravans entering and leaving the wilderness had to pass through there. But don't forget that there is only one way to enter and exit Bayuan from Shanshui City, and Gao Cheng can also send people to build a barrier at the other end of the road, and all caravans that come out of the wilderness will also have to pay taxes. Yue Geng was overjoyed, and immediately ordered someone to do so, cut down huge trees to build a fence as quickly as possible, sent a sergeant on duty, and set up a goods tax checkpoint at the entrance of that mountain road.

Qingshan, who has always been mild-tempered, was also angry, since ancient times, how can there be a reason to block the door of people's homes to collect taxes, this is clearly to provoke and rob. Qingshan personally led his master down the mountain and attacked this level at night, not only destroying all the wooden gates, but also capturing all the guards of the Yue Geng faction back to Shanshui City.

Before Yue Geng could react when he heard the news, the king's order arrived, asking him to rush to the national capital immediately. When Lord Yue Geng took the order and left, he was still thinking about how to complain to the monarch in person, but Shanshui City actually captured dozens of soldiers under him. Unexpectedly, Yue Geng didn't see the monarch at all, and it was directly taken down by Lord Lizheng. Lord Rissho relayed the king's reprimand, and in a vacant square in the national capital, he stripped him naked and slapped him in public.

It's good that Yue Geng has an identity, the board is loud but not heavy, but this face can't be embarrassed! Lord Li Zheng also announced in public why he punished Yue Geng so much, what did he do wrong, and the monarch ordered him to correct it. In fact, this punishment is relatively light, Yue Geng still went back to be the lord of the city after being hit by the board, but he had to send someone to Shanshui City to apologize, and compensate the goods lost by the Shanshui City caravan in the conflict, and return the overcharged goods tax during this time.

This matter should have ended like this, but he deserved to be unlucky, and before he could leave the national capital, two more city envoys sent envoys to the national capital to complain. Each of them had a caravan that was inexplicably punished in Gorjo, where the goods were confiscated and all of them were boarded. Then news came that Qingshan sent someone to complain, this time it was Gaocheng who blocked the mountain road to build a customs and claim taxes.

The monarch was furious and called Yue Geng to reprimand him in person: "I am still sitting in the position of the monarch. Do you want to order the cities? You even set up customs and levies taxes outside Shanshui City, is this your own national border? The lords of the court and the central government say that you have no intention of rebelling, but are only tempted by the desire for profit, but I don't think that's the case!"

The monarch was so angry that he almost beheaded Yue Geng on the spot, but fortunately, there were many people around him to dissuade him, so he was thrown into prison. Let Rissho-sama re-interrogate. Yue Geng was frightened this time, and quickly informed the clansmen to quickly bring valuable gifts to all the adults in the capital, and painstakingly explained that he had no different intentions, everything was just a misunderstanding, and he would definitely change his ways!

Yue Geng was imprisoned for more than a month, and the monarch had a son. In a good mood, he was finally released back to Gaocheng. But before Yue Geng returned to Gaocheng, he was interrogated by Lord Li Zheng again, and he was beaten in public again. This time, the executioner was instructed, the board was beaten very hard, and Yue Geng was carried out of the national capital.

When Yue Geng was escorted back to Gaocheng by his subordinates, what happened in the capital and the reasons for it. It was also sent by Lord Caifeng to spread the story in various cities in the country, and the people heard about it.

According to the officials, the reason why the lord of Yuegeng was pardoned was not only because there were festive things in the country, but also because he knew that he could change his mistakes. Yue Geng once wept bitterly in front of the monarch and confessed his sins, and vowed to repent and make amends.

Takajo will compensate Shanshui Castle and the caravans of the other castles, refund the excess taxes, send messengers to apologize, and vow never to make such mistakes again.

At that time, there was no written word, so the law was very simple. People act in accordance with rituals that have been passed down from generation to generation. Therefore, for people like Yue Geng, if they do not commit the crime of death, they will often still be given a chance to mend their ways.

The Lord Lizheng who interrogated him, including the monarch, actually knew in their hearts that what Yue Geng did was not right, and even lost his mind in a rage. But there is no intention of rebellion. As long as Yue Geng does not commit treason, this kind of person cannot be easily killed, and even let him go back to continue to be the city lord for the time being. Because Yue Geng is also the patriarch of the Gao Cheng clan, and the Gao Cheng clan is the most powerful tribal force in the highlands.

The king's reprimand and punishment were mainly aimed at Yue Geng himself, and did not involve the Gaocheng clan.

In those days, there was a lot of emphasis on commitment, and vows were a major event in life. This is not only because people believe in ghosts and gods, but also because there are not many ways to bind each other in a simple and difficult life environment, so vows become important. If a person does not keep his oath, then he is taken for granted to be punished by the oath breaker, and people naturally choose not to deal with him again.

If a city does not keep its oath, the people of the kingdom will be far away and alienated from it, and the city will be despised by all, and people will no longer trust it and make any dealings with it. In the age of simplicity, it was as simple as that for people to do things.

Before Yue Geng left the capital, Lord Xiling also went to see him in prison and had a long talk, which was not only a condolence, but also a kind of admonition.

In the face of the depressed and panicked Yue Geng, Xiling not only explained what he was wrong about, but also why he was punished like this? Xiling also told Yue Geng that he was actually making trouble for the monarch. Despite the fact that Shanshui City has just been established for a long time and is located in a remote area, its status in the country is much more important than that of Gaocheng.

Ba Yuan is surrounded by mountains, and the Xiangmuro country is close to the edge of Ba Yuan, but there is more than one wilderness, and there is more than one tribal alliance in the wilderness. The reason why the monarch attaches so much importance to the annexation of the tribal alliance in the wilderness, and Yuegeng and Xiling have made great contributions to this, is because the Xiangmuro country wants to take Shanshui City as a model and call on more barbarian tribal alliances to follow suit.

If Shanshui City had just been annexed, it was treated unfairly and oppressed by other cities in the country, then how could the other barbarian tribes follow suit? Moreover, this time it was Yue Geng who took the initiative to provoke the dispute, and the only one who could be punished was Gao Cheng, and the monarch put Yue Geng back to continue to be the lord of the city, so that he could personally make up for this situation.

As for what Lord Caifeng Xiling said to the Lord of Yuegeng City, outsiders don't know. The local wind collectors have told the people about what happened in Gaocheng and the national capital, and everyone loves to listen to it. A castle lord was stripped of his clothes and beaten in public, which was unheard of in the country of the prime minister, and he could simply take this story to dinner.

While praising the wisdom and benevolence of the lord, the people of the kingdom waited to see what Yue Geng would do, and to compensate Shanshui City and the other two caravans for the losses, and to refund the excess taxes, an amount that was already difficult to calculate, and the only way to pay as much as possible. Gao Cheng also sent an envoy to Shanshui City to apologize and send a lot of goods.

Qingshan was also generous, didn't care about anything, ordered people to receive the envoy very warmly, let go of the previously captured Gao Cheng sergeant, they followed the envoy back, and also gave back a batch of precious goods to Gao Cheng, even if the matter was over. The dispute between the two cities finally subsided.

Later, Yue Geng resigned as the lord of the city on the grounds of physical discomfort, but he was still the patriarch of the Gaocheng clan. Gao Cheng elected another new city lord, and he still came out of the Gao Cheng clan. The new city lord's name is Ziqian, and he is also a monk of the Five Realms. Yue Geng can also be regarded as an intellectual, he has lost face this time, and has become the laughing stock of the entire Xiangmuro country, maybe he did this because he listened to Xiling's persuasion, or maybe Yue Geng figured it out himself.

After the decree of the monarch to canonize the new city lord was issued, Aoyama also sent a very heavy congratulatory gift when he heard the news, at least in terms of face. After the envoy of Shanshui City returned from the national capital, he brought back the monarch's words of consolation to the Shanshui clan, and there was a special sentence to ask Qingshan - why was the caravan of Shanshui City dressed as a soldier with an elite military formation?

This question is very important, and it can be regarded as a euphemistic reminder. Sending elite troops to infiltrate other cities in disguise is a very dangerous and inevitably suspicious signal, and it should not be done under normal circumstances.

Qingshan sent someone back to the monarch: "The people of the land are laborious, and they can't afford to support too many idlers." The caravans in this city also have the responsibility of opening, building, and protecting roads, and they cannot do it unless they are elite samurai. ”

The situation of Shanshui City is special, and you have to walk through a long wilderness to get in and out of Ba Yuan. Moreover, the barbarian tribes are remote and backward, and it is impossible to support too many idlers who are out of labor, so the caravans are composed of elite military soldiers. When they traveled to and from Ba Yuan, they not only ensured the safety of this trade route, but also built this mountain road.

The road is not built in a day, and every time the caravan enters and exits, it encounters some difficult sections, and a short section will be dug and leveled. Moreover, there are often flash floods in the rainy season in the wilderness, and they will also rush down the broken wood and rolling stones to block the road, which needs to be cleaned and repaired regularly, and the caravan of Shanshui City also bears this responsibility at the same time, so Qingshan did not deliberately let the military formation be disguised as a caravan.

In this way, it can be regarded as a satisfactory explanation to the monarch. And the harmonious relationship between Shanshui City and Gao Cheng has also been restored, even if Yue Geng, the patriarch of the Gao Cheng clan, has a grudge in his heart, it is not good to do anything to retaliate on the surface.

During this time, Huwa often went to Taihao Ruins to cultivate, and he didn't continue to take the immortal elixir, and to be honest, he didn't need it anymore. Hu Wa often sat on the white jade altar, and did not practice any secret methods, and Zhu Ming did not open his mouth to talk to him, but continued to imprint a lot of divine thoughts into his Yuan Shen, which contained all kinds of information, introducing and explaining all things in the world to Hu Wa.

Although these are not secret methods of cultivation, they are also very important teachings or inheritances. Zhu Ming was the last head of the school palace in Ba Yuan and the last master of the school before the civil strife and division of Pakistan. In that era when there was no written language, what did people learn in the school palace, and how did those teachers in the school teach their disciples?