Immediately after Xiang Qing and Luo Chao, there were four soldiers of the Shenwu Battalion in the side hall of the Donggong Mansion, and those four soldiers carried an iron wooden box on their shoulders.

"Miss, it's all in this box......" Xiang Qing pointed to the iron wooden box and said to Liang Qiuwu.

"How many copies?" Liang Qiuwu asked, wiping her wet hair with a dry towel in her right hand as she spoke.

Until now, she was still bathing in her room, you must know that she practiced martial arts in the backyard this morning, and she was sweating, although she barely insisted on finishing breakfast with Xie An, but in the end, she is also a woman after all, how can she tolerate the smell of sweat on her body?

However, when she heard that Xiang Qing and Luo Chao's all-night work was finally completed and had been sent to the house, she hurriedly wiped her sweat in the middle of the bath, changed into a loose robe, and rushed over before she even had time to hair.

After all, the contents of this box are related to the military expenses of her Eastern Army Shenwu Battalion, so it's no wonder that she is so anxious.

"Two hundred!" Xiang Qing clenched his fists and said.

"So much?" Liang Qiu Wuxiu raised his eyebrows, and then understood.

You must know that judging from the attitude of the imperial court over the years, it can almost be said that it is almost impossible for the military expenditure of the [Four Towns] to be restored to the level of the year, and even on the contrary, it will be reduced more and more, so Xiang Qing and others most likely want to take precautions and take this opportunity to make a big profit, thinking about it for the future, after all, there are not many such opportunities.

To be honest, taking advantage of the loopholes of the imperial court is contrary to the principle of Liangqiu Dance, but she is also angry that over the years, the household department has cut the military spending of the four towns again and again.

What are the Four Towns?

That is the four most elite soldiers and horses in Jijing that are not easily mobilized, and they are the last line of defense to maintain the stability of Jijing.

It has to be said that there will always be irreconcilable contradictions between the military and the tax department that is in charge of the property.

"An, do you have any suggestions for those merchants in Jijing who will negotiate later?" Liang Qiuwu looked back at Xie An, who was sitting silently on the side, walked over and gently patted him on the shoulder.

To tell the truth, it was the first time she had seen her husband so quiet, quiet and even a little unaccustomed, as if there was something difficult to solve.

"Huh?" Xie An, who was looking down and thinking about something, was taken aback by Liang Qiuwu's pat, looking at his soulless appearance, Liangqiuwu frowned, and repeated it helplessly.

"Suggestion? I don't have any suggestions...... It's about selling these things to those merchants...... If you are troublesome, I will negotiate with those merchants......" Xie An's eyes flickered faintly, and he didn't dare to look directly at the woman who had already become a husband and wife with him.

"Really? - Then this matter will be handed over to you, I will not show up, just watch in the inner room, in addition, I will ask Third Brother Xiang and Fourth Brother Luo to help you......" Liang Qiu Wu seemed to be a little happy, no wonder, after all, these generations of generals in the Donggong Mansion are all generals in the army, and they can be said to know nothing about the transactions between merchants, and even they can't see through those deceitful merchants.

"Oh......" Xie An replied, still keeping his head down.

"What's wrong? ――Do you have any concerns? Rao is Liangqiu dance is sluggish, and this time it can be seen that Xie An doesn't seem to be happy.

"I didn't ...... No......" Xie An whistled a little weakly.

"Really?"

"Hmm......"

The more Liang Qiuwu looked at it, the more suspicious she became, but in view of Xie An's refusal to speak, she naturally didn't want to ask if she abided by her duty as a wife, but she just called Yiyi, and the two whispered something to each other.

About half an hour later, Yan Kai and Chen Gang, who went to distribute the invitations, came back, and after learning from Liang Qiuwu that she had handed over the matter to Xie An for disposal, the two didn't say much.

After another half an hour, there were guests in Donggong Mansion who came to visit them with invitations, there is no doubt that these people are the owners of large and small businesses in Jijing, or the trusted representatives of the owners, after all, not all business owners are in Jijing at the moment.

I have to say that these giants of Jijing commerce were very surprised after receiving the invitation from the Donggong Mansion, after all, the Donggong Mansion has never had any intersection with them, and today they suddenly distributed invitations and invited them to the mansion for a banquet, which really surprised them.

Fortunately, Donggongfu is not small and has a good reputation, especially when most of the leading figures in this industry have arrived, the tension in their hearts has been slightly relieved.

"Isn't this Brother Li of [Guanhui Baoxing]?"

"Yo, the owner of [Fengcheng Qianzhuang]'s money ......"

"Zhao Gong of [Tongbao Xing], I haven't seen you for a long time, but it's been good lately......"

"Ouch, Brother Zhou, don't come unharmed! ――Speaking of which, my brother has been planning to find you [Yunnan Qingfang] to do pen trading recently......"

"Hey, grandpa, you [Qiuyang Shazhuang] have made a lot of money recently, which makes the little brother quite red-eyed......"

"Haha, don't come to this set, the Shu silk that Brother Su shipped a few days ago can be overwhelmed by the texture of the elder brother, and the elder brother has lost a lot this time......

Standing at the door of the inner room, Xie An raised his right hand and lifted the curtain slightly, looking at the rich and wealthy people in Jijing in the hall.

After half a ring, he chuckled, lifted the curtain and walked over generously, stopping in front of the main seat.

Perhaps noticing Xie An, the rich people in the house stopped greeting and discussing, and looked over in unison, and when they saw that Xie An was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old child, there was a faint hint of discoloration in their eyes.

Fortunately, these are all people who have been in business for more than ten years, or even decades, and they know the truth that people can't be disguised.

On the contrary, Xie An, with some emotion in his heart, thought that when he was on the streets of Jijing, he repeatedly went to the merchants under the names of these rich people in front of him to look for jobs, but unfortunately, every time the manager and shopkeeper of the store refused and drove away, who would have thought that in less than four months, he would have been able to stand in front of those managers and shopkeepers and employers and sit on an equal footing with them?

Thinking of this, he took a slight breath, clenched his fists and arched his hands, "Everyone, kid Xie An, sent by General Wu, the chief of the Donggong Mansion, to entertain you here, if there is any rudeness, I hope that all the eldest brothers and uncles, for the sake of the young boy, bear with me!" ”

The wealthy businessmen below looked at each other, glanced at Xiang Qing and Luo Chao, who were standing on the left and right of the side hall and wearing the armor of the deputy general of the Shenwu Battalion, and secretly guessed Xie An's identity.

The wealthy businessmen returned the salute with their fists, firstly, they had guessed that Xie An's identity was not simple, and they did not dare to make a mistake, and secondly, Xie An spoke very politely, so that these [businessmen] with a status below [Shi] had a good impression of him.

"In that case, the kid is young, so I want to call you a big brother, don't mind!" Xie An said half-jokingly.

The merchants below smiled at each other and said one after another.

"Where, Where, ......"

"Little brother is too polite......"

"I'm just waiting for this, it's just a few years older......"

Seeing that the atmosphere between the two sides had become harmonious for a long time, Xie An no longer talked nonsense, after all, he was also half a businessman, and knew that businessmen valued interests more than this kind of hypocritical politeness, so after a few words of greeting, he paused, his tone dropped, and said mysteriously, "Today, General Wu invited you brothers to come to the mansion, not for anything else, just to send you a great fortune!" ”

As soon as these words fell, everyone below was silent.

When talking about business, it pays attention to grabbing people and arousing the interest of the other party, I have to say that Xie An is very good at this aspect.

So much so, from beginning to end, Xiang Qing and Luo Chao stared blankly at Xie An holding a road guide, walking around the merchants, and talking wildly, as if the thin piece of paper in his hand was a priceless treasure.

As the saying goes, there are fewer than a thousand cups of wine for a confidant, and there is no speculation for more than half a sentence, on the other hand, only these rich people who have been immersed in business for more than ten years or even decades can understand the profits contained in the thin piece of paper in Xie An's hands.

"Little brother means, is he going to lead these ways that can be exempted from all taxes to me?" A middle-aged rich man couldn't help but speak, his tone was slightly nervous, obviously, he had seen the wealth behind that small guide.

"Exactly!" Walking back to the main seat again, Xie An said without concealing anything, "I am afraid that you elder brothers are also thinking, how can the imperial court allow this kind of thing, and the kid will not hide it from ......you" As he spoke, he explained the causes and consequences of this matter, and then, before everyone could react, he lowered his voice and said, "You should have also thought of it, this time it was the negligence of the household department when it was drafting the edict, and when we did this, we also took advantage of the household department and the country, but who told those people in the household department to target me [the four towns]?" ”

"If the imperial court investigates it in the future......" The merchants below looked at each other, it was undeniable that they were very moved, but when they thought of the imperial court in the future, they were also a little worried, after all, some of them were just pure businessmen, not more powerful than the Donggong Mansion.

Xie An smiled when he heard this, and said jokingly, "What are you afraid of!" -- We are doing things exactly according to what is written in the holy decree, even if the imperial court wants to investigate it in the future, we can't help it, and if we want to blame, we can only blame the negligence of the household officials who are planning the edict! Malfeasance! ”

"Since it is a mistake of the imperial court, if the imperial court notices it, then these roads will lead ......"

Glancing up at the rich man who asked the question, Xie An smiled and said, "What is the Holy Decree?" The holy decree is the golden mouth of His Majesty today, how can the order of the dynasty be changed, to say something unkind, even if the kid writes a century-old road guide, the court can only grit its teeth and swallow it in the stomach! ――Of course, if it's a century-old road guide, even if the kid dares to write it, I'm afraid you guys won't dare to buy it, right? ”

"Hahaha......" The rich businessmen laughed at each other, where would they not understand what Xie An meant.

"In short, the time limit of this road guide is one year, in this year, no matter how large the caravan is, as long as it carries this road guide, it can be exempted from all taxes in my Great Zhou, in other words, the profits earned by the caravan can be directly hidden in the pockets of your brothers, and there is no need to pay taxes...... As for the price, a fixed price, 50,000 copies! ”

The merchants who had been happy before were slightly shocked when they heard this, and one of them couldn't help but say, "Since a road guide can only be used for one caravan, but 50,000 taels of silver, I'm afraid it's a bit much......

"Yes, yes......" The rest of the merchants chimed in.

"How?" Xie An chuckled, and under the surprised eyes of the merchants, he actually sat down on the main seat, raised his right foot and rested on his left leg, and said jokingly, "A caravan, with thirty carriages pulling goods, set off from Jijing, pull sesame oil, sea salt, flour and other things, transport them to Northern Xinjiang to unload, and then buy iron ore from Northern Xinjiang, transport it back to Jijing, make it into weapons, and sell it to the Ordnance Department in Jijing, so it only takes two months to go back and forth, can you tell the boy, how much will the tax cost during the period?" ”

Among the merchants below, the businessmen who were doing this business nodded and smiled silently.

"For example, if you pull sesame oil, sea salt, and tea bags from Jijing, transport them to Yizhou, pull silk and spices from Yizhou, and then return to Jijing, go back and forth for six months, how much will the customs duties and city taxes during the period be?"

Some people in the wealthy businessmen stroked their beards and counted them, and nodded secretly, but there were still some people who thought that buying a road guide for 50,000 taels was a bit expensive.

For example, if a caravan has to pay 60,000 taels of silver in taxes a year, now because it costs 50,000 taels to buy the road guide of the Shenwu camp, it is no longer necessary to pay taxes from all over the world, it is only 20,000 more.

They only got 20,000 more in a year of hard work, and Donggongfu didn't have to do anything, they got 50,000, no wonder some people felt a little uncomfortable in their hearts.

Perhaps guessing what everyone was thinking, Xie An smiled, stood up, casually walked over to a businessman with an unswerving face, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "What is your surname?" ”

"Don't dare...... The grass people's cheap surname is Han ......"

"That's Brother Han," Xie An smiled, glanced at the merchants who were all looking at the here, and said with a chuckle, "Brother Han, if the kid goes out shopping with you one day and picks up ten taels of ownerless silver on the road, after some discussion, the two of us plan to divide him, but the kid is greedy and wants nine taels of them, and only gives one tael to the elder brother...... There are two roads in front of the elder brother, either the elder brother accepts the one tael, and the kid gets nine taels; Or, my brother thinks I'm greedy, and in a fit of anger, I don't even want my own one or two, so the two of us can only hand over the ownerless ten taels of silver to the Wei Wei Bureau, so that the kid will not have the nine taels, and of course, the one or two of the elder brother will be gone, just ask, this tael, if the elder brother doesn't want it? ”

The businessman surnamed Han looked puzzled, looked at Xie An suspiciously, then frowned, and said with a smile, "Of course!" -- If you refuse, you won't even have a tael, and you'll be harmed by others and yourself! As he spoke, he stood up, clasped his fists towards Xie An, and said with a face full of amazement, "If it weren't for Brother Xie to point out the matter, I'm afraid that the old brother would still be confused by the authorities...... It's a pity that the little brother doesn't go to business! - I want this one or two! ”

At this time, the rest of the businessmen below gradually understood, after all, they were people who were crawling in this industry, where would they not understand the deep meaning of Xie An's words, and even, after understanding it, Xie An, who said this truth, was even more upset in his heart.

With the first person, after that, things will go much smoother, the merchants in the side hall, have gone out of the house to notify the servants and family members waiting outside the house, and told them to go back to their mansions to prepare silver taels, some are anxious, and even rode horses to their own mansions, after all, Xie An has a word first, the court may not know when it will notice, if before the court notices, they have purchased those road guides from the Donggong Mansion, the court naturally has nothing to say, but if the court is one step faster, it will be a bamboo basket to draw water, of course, The same is true for the Donggong Mansion.

After only half an hour, these merchants have gone and returned, with silver tickets to trade the road, some are the silver tickets of the national brand bank, some are the silver tickets of their own money, but no matter what, those are real silver, after all, businessmen are honest, even if they are smashing the pot and selling iron, they will not be half a tael of silver and damage their own signboard.

Among them, there were those who bought one, those who bought two, and those who bought three, but when Xie An proposed to buy four and give one for free, the enthusiasm of those businessmen was suddenly aroused, so that the two hundred or so copies of the road guide were sold out.

After all, they are businessmen, and they know that such business opportunities should not be missed, even if they don't use so much, won't they sell them to others? And it's not just Jijing that has a wealthy businessman like them.

All in all, the busyness of everyone in the Donggong Mansion was not in vain, and the two hundred pieces of tissue paper were exchanged for about seven or eight hundred taels of silver tickets, and the iron wooden box was stuffed to the brim.

"I can't be dreaming, am I?" Looking at the white flowers and silver taels in the box, Xiang Qing couldn't hide the joy on his face, looked back at Liang Qiu Wu and said happily, "Miss, this is enough to cover the military expenses of my Shenwu camp for four or five years, if it weren't for Brother Xie saying that being too greedy would cause dissatisfaction in the imperial court, I really want to go and attract hundreds of ......."

"Hmm!" Liang Qiuwu's eyes also showed a little joy, and he nodded again and again and said, "Go back and gather the soldiers of the whole battalion, make up the military salaries that have been cut over the years, and reward the ...... of the whole army."

"Not quite right, right?" Yan Kai, who was old, leaned over, lowered his voice and said, "Our army has taken a big advantage today, even if the court does not pursue it in the future, it is not good to make the land too public, just reward the whole army, make up for the military salary cut over the years, and increase it more, otherwise it will be too public, and it will inevitably be gossiped behind the back......

"That's just as well! - That's it! Liang Qiuwu nodded and agreed with Yan Kai's point of view, then turned his head, looked at Xie An and said happily, "An, thanks to you this time!" ”

"Oh......" Xie An's gaze at Liang Qiu Wu was still a little flickering, and he quietly pulled Xiang Qing aside when Liang Qiu Wu and ordered everyone.

"Third brother, let me tell you something very urgent......"

At this moment, Xiang Qing was still immersed in the ecstasy brought by those silver tickets, and looked at Xie An in astonishment when he heard the words, seeing that his expression was extremely serious, he was also shocked in his heart, and nodded again and again and said, "You said ...... you said"

I saw Xie An hesitate for a moment, and said in a low voice, "What inventory does the third brother's mansion have?" ”

"Stock?" Xiang Qing was stunned, a little confused.

"Ah, like a tiger whip, a deer whip or something, you can get a hundred and eighty for the little brother......"

"......" Xiang Qing looked at Xie An stupidly.

“……”

"Heh, heh, he......" After a short period of sluggishness, Xiang Qing couldn't help laughing, laughing so much that Xie An was annoyed, and his face was flushed.

"That's what you said, urgent?"

"Very urgent!" Xie An said bittenly.

Looking at Xie An's serious expression, Xiang Qing finally understood why this brotherhood had such a demeanor this morning, and after shaking his head with a smile and a smile, he reached out and put his arm around Xie An's shoulder, and said in a low voice, "One hundred and eighty will eat the dead, and there are not so many in my brother's house, turn around, my brother will ask someone to send two over first......

"Don't tell anyone else......"

"I know, I know!" Xiang Qing showed a [don't you believe me] look.

The two looked at each other and smiled, tacitly acknowledging each other, not noticing that behind the two of them, Liang Qiuwu was looking at the two of them with extremely distrustful eyes, and his face was faintly darkened.

"Third Brother Xiang, have you finished escorting the three thousand stones of grain and grass?"

"Huh?" Xiang Qing, who was laughing with Xie An, was stunned when he heard this, turned his head, and happened to see Liang Qiuwu looking at him with a cold face.

"Uh, not ...... yet"

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"......" opened his mouth, and Xiang Qing, who had already understood the deep meaning of Liangqiu's words, left with a smile.

Glancing at Xiang Qing, who was slipping away, Liang Qiuwu took a deep look at Xie An, who obviously had something on his mind, walked to him in a few steps, lowered his voice, and gritted his teeth and said, "An, last time you followed Third Brother Xiang in and out of such filthy and vulgar places to mess around, I will read your first offense, spare you once, if there is a next time, the family law will serve!" ”

"Home...... Family law? And family law? Although Xie An didn't understand why Liang Qiuwu said this, it still didn't prevent him from expressing the amazement in his heart.

"Ah, you can try!" The stern warning in Liang Qiuwu's eyes made Xie Anxin feel cold, after all, the woman in front of him is not the kind of woman who can be smiling with her all day long if you have a husband and wife with her.

But......

Asking for two tiger whips to serve the family law?

Not really, right?

--At the same time, the Prime Minister's Mansion--

The woman named Xie Anxin was frightened, the woman who was afraid that the world would not be chaotic, the eldest grandson Xiangyu, was leaning sideways against the desk in the study, and lowered his head to glance at the few pieces on the table.

Behind the vermilion sandalwood desk, Sun Yin, the old prime minister who was over sixty years old, was looking at his favorite granddaughter in front of him with helpless eyes.

"Tuk Tuk!" The eldest grandson Xiangyu tapped the table with his slender fingers, frowned and said, "Grandfather, who wrote this edict on your desk?" ”

"Call grandpa...... Forget it," the old prime minister sighed slightly, and asked puzzledly, "It's Lord Langtian, the head of the household, how can you get it?" ”

"Has my grandfather ever seen it?"

"This, just because it is a draft of the edict to return to the old man, so the old man has not read it, what?"

"Don't look at it," the folding fan in the hand of the eldest grandson Xiangyu knocked on the fold, and said expressionlessly, "The fool who is planning this draft edict will be beheaded directly at the noon gate!" ”

"......" The old prime minister who was brushing his beard was stunned when he heard this.