"Anping?" Luo Han had an image of a big belly and a face full of flesh in his mind. He really knows this person, he is a very popular figure in the Eastern Capital in recent years, he does all kinds of fur products business, and has dealings with Storm Cave Mansion, and the furs saved by those meat-eating monsters are sold to him, and occasionally there are some monster furs, which can be sold for sky-high prices as soon as he changes hands.

Thinking of this, Luo Han smiled and said, "I didn't expect to be able to buy Boss An's house here, it's really fate." ”

The housekeeper said, "Doesn't the son recognize my master?" ”

Luo Han said: "There have been some contacts. But why did Boss An buy a house here? ”

The housekeeper explained: "My lord was originally a hunter in the mountains, and he came to the White Lion Country by chance and embarked on the road of business. Later, this place was conquered, and the old man wanted to return to his hometown, so he came back to buy an industry. ”

Speaking of this, the housekeeper paused, lowered his voice and said: "However, the master has settled here for a few years, and life is not going well, so he simply moved his family to the Eastern Capital." ”

Li Wanru was curious: "Why?" ”

The butler hesitated and asked, "Are you really the city lord appointed by His Majesty?" ”

Li Wanru took out the token and said, "It's like a fake." ”

The housekeeper carefully identified it and nodded: "City Lord, don't you know, my lord has lived in this Tang City for a year, and the expenses are greater than in the royal capital and the eastern capital." The old man was born poor, where is he willing to suffer this loss? ”

Luo Han was puzzled: "Why is this?" It stands to reason that the prices in Tangcheng should be much lower than those in Dongdu. ”

The housekeeper said: "The price is low, but the number of gifts given every year is amazing." Officials should give gifts on their birthdays, concubines when they marry, gifts on the full moon of childbirth, gifts for family members' birthdays, gifts on New Year's holidays, and even gifts for minor illnesses. This gift can't be light, if it is less, there will be officials who come to the door every once in a while to find trouble, or ruffians come to the store to smash it. I've heard that these gifts are not collected by the officials themselves, and most of them will flow to the city lord...... No, it's in the hands of the acting city lord. ”

Li Wanru was shocked: "Xiweituo actually used this method to collect money? Isn't he afraid of scaring all the merchants of Tang City away? ”

Luo Han snorted and said, "What are you afraid of?" This is your Tang City, not his fiefdom. This kid is really interesting, if he levies violently, increases taxes indiscriminately, and fills his pockets, he will definitely not be able to eat and walk around if he is found out. You can use this method to force the merchants to send money, and even if the incident happens, you will not find a reason to punish him. In my opinion, he also calculated that exploitation is the psychological limit of merchants. Except for businessmen like Anping who have a way to leave easily, most businessmen will not choose to leave their hometowns as long as they can survive, and can only obediently accept exploitation. ”

The housekeeper nodded: "This son is right, my master has communicated privately with his peers before, and found that the specifications of each gift are different, as long as it is lower than the standard, someone will come to knock, and the next time it will have to be made up, and each family knows how much they should give when they have more times." Alas...... Speaking of which, my lord doesn't want to leave his hometown, but with such a group of people, my lord is really angry. If the city lord can solve this matter, he will definitely be willing to return to Tang City. ”

Li Wanru furrowed her eyebrows, looked at Luo Han and said, "Teacher, these people are too much, I'm going to teach them a good lesson." ”

Luo Han waved his hand and said, "How to teach a lesson?" The law does not stipulate that officials should not accept congratulatory gifts. ”

Li Wanru said: "But they are clearly forcing others to give gifts, and they are obviously organized. ”

"Do you have evidence that they are persecuting? Butler, can you show the proof? ”

The housekeeper smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This is all a private matter, how can there be any evidence?" The officials and errands all have serious reasons to come to the door, and the ruffians and hooligans can't make trouble with those people, but everyone knows it. ”

Li Wanru bit her lip and said indignantly: "They did this, I don't know how much Tangcheng's economy has declined, is it so cheap for them?" ”

Luo Han said: "Little girl, let's worry about yourself first." ”

Li Wanru was puzzled: "Myself? What's wrong? ”

Luo Han said: "Your arrival has touched the interests of others, if Xiweituo is timid, it is likely that you will take advantage of the fact that you have not completely controlled Tang Cheng to do the last vote." If you are bold...... Then I don't know what will be done. It is not uncommon for such a place to have a remnant of the former dynasty. ”

Li Wanru thought about it and said: "But if I die, Tang City will definitely be taken back by the king, and when the kingdom supervises it, they will not get any benefits, and they may be found out of the truth, which is a big crime." ”

"You're still naïve. If you die, the news of your death reaches the royal capital, and the royal capital will send someone to verify the cause of your death, and it will take several days to go back and forth, enough for them to dry up and fish, and then flee. However, looking at Siveto's previous performance, it shouldn't move you for the time being. Luo Han paused and continued: "This is your first actual battle, from now on, I will not provide you with any more help, only responsible for your life safety." Let me see how much you've learned these days. ”-

Li Wanru nodded: "I will definitely live up to the teacher's teachings." ”

The old butler next to him asked carefully, "Lord City, this courtyard ...... Do you still buy it? ”

Li Wanru hurriedly said: "Buy, buy, buy, of course you have to buy." In addition, I have to bother the housekeeper to help me hire some family members, not too much, and can maintain the daily use of a few people. ”

The housekeeper said, "Wrap it on the little old man." ”

The housekeeper explained the situation of the yard in detail, gave a detailed reason for the valuation, and finally issued a fair price. Of course, Li Wanru didn't have no money to worry about, but these situations were useful to her who was about to rule the city, so she kept them in her heart one by one.

After handing over the deed of the courtyard, you only need to register it with the city lord's mansion, and this courtyard belongs to Li Wanru. The housekeeper and a few servants belonging to Anping stayed for the time being, and they would leave only when they helped Li Wanru find a suitable servant.

Seeing that it was not early, and the housekeeper was about to ask people to cook, Li Wanru suddenly had an idea and said to Luo Han: "Teacher, let's go find a restaurant to eat." The restaurant is full of people, and it is the best place to understand folk things. ”

Luo Han was noncommittal and said, "You can do whatever you want, I'm just your bodyguard now." ”

Li Wanru stuck out her tongue and walked out, Luo Han followed calmly, always keeping a three-step distance from Li Wanru, like an emotionless bodyguard.

At this time, the sun was already setting, and the people outside the city were going home one after another, and the streets were suddenly much sparser. Li Wanru walked to a restaurant that looked like a lot of pomp, and was about to go in, but when she saw Luo Han deliberately taking two more steps behind, she suddenly woke up, retreated, and led Luo Han to a small restaurant nearby.

In fact, it is very simple, since the officials of Tang City have collected money through gifts, their net worth should not be bad, after all, there is no benefit, and there is no way to tie up other people to the thief ship. This means that some of them are likely to be bumped into in a good restaurant, and the drinkers may not dare to discuss the rights and wrongs of the officials in such a place. On the contrary, ordinary restaurants are mostly populated by ordinary citizens, who are more likely to use these things as a pastime.

Li Wanru entered the store, ordered a few dishes casually, and said to Luo Han, who was sitting opposite her: "Teacher, what do you say they will do if they want to do it?" ”

Luo Han said indifferently: "This is something you should consider, don't ask me." Remember eight words – listen more, watch more, think more, and calculate. ”

Li Wanru took notes, picked up the teacup on the table, and unconsciously fiddled with it, but her ears were carefully discerning what the diners around her were talking about. However, there does not seem to be any mention of these officials.

Li Wanru was a little disappointed, and thought that if no one mentioned it all the time, wouldn't this trip be in vain? I was about to ask Luo Han if there was any way to talk, but I saw Luo Han holding a silver coin in his hand, flipping it boringly, so I remembered what Luo Han had said before, and I didn't dare to ask Luo Han.

Li Wanru thought to herself: "You can't just ask these strangers about Xiweituo and the others, maybe it will spread out and cause Xiweituo and the others to be vigilant." That's right, little two. Xiao Er in this kind of place comes into contact with a lot of people every day and hears a lot of things, as long as I pretend to be curious and knock on the side, I should be able to get something useful. ”

At this time, Xiao Er came over with the dishes, and Li Wanru said: "Little Second Brother, I heard that this Tang City is the fief of a Tang princess, I have long admired the prestige of the Tang Dynasty, and I really want to meet this princess, I don't know if there is any way?" ”

Xiao Er said with a smile: "I'm afraid the girl didn't listen to it all, although this is the fief of that princess, but the princess is still young and can't govern the fief at all, I heard that she has been in the Eastern Capital for the past few years, and she has never been to Tangcheng." If the girl wanted to see her, she would have to go to the Eastern Capital. ”

Li Wanru said: "Since the princess is not here, then who is in charge here?" ”

Xiao Er said: "Naturally, the officials sent by His Majesty the King helped take care of it. ”

Li Wanru was about to continue asking, but when she saw that Xiao Er had already wanted to turn around and leave, she was a little anxious, but saw that Luo Han suddenly popped out the silver coin in his hand, which happened to fall on the plate that Xiao Er used to serve the dish. Xiao Er understood and asked, "What else does the guest officer have to order?" ”

Luo Han didn't speak, but Li Wanru had already understood, and she was funny in her heart, the teacher said that he didn't help himself, but he actually cared. So he took the opportunity to say: "I'm just curious, passing by Tang City, I didn't see the princess, I can't just leave, go back and ask three questions, right." ”

Xiao Er smiled and nodded: "If the girl has anything to ask, the little one knows everything." ”

"Then let me ask you, do you think it's better for the princess to govern Tang City? Or is it better to be governed by these officials now? ”

The girl laughed, aren't we ordinary people the same? However, our shopkeeper may not think so. ”

Li Wanru was overjoyed in her heart, and finally got to the point, so she asked, "How do you say this?" ”

Xiao Er looked left and right, and did not shy away from it, and said: "You are a foreigner, so it's not strange if you don't know." In this Tang City, everything else is good, only one point, but whoever does business, no matter what big or small things those officials and masters have, they must be filial, otherwise it will be difficult to do this business. And this filial piety can't be too little, it's all set privately by the officials and masters according to their income. To put it bluntly, even if it is a fireworks woman in the building, most of the money from selling her body will be given to the officials and masters. Who can stand this, you say? ”

"Isn't there anyone in charge?"

"Who cares? This Tang City is a fiefdom, as long as the tribute is paid in full, there is no rebellion or chaos, the court doesn't ask at all, and the princess doesn't care about anything, and she is not acting as the city lord to have the final say. ”

Li Wanru asked, "Then have these officials done anything else?" ”

Xiao Er shook his head: "That's not true, there are soldiers and horses stationed outside the city, if the matter is too big, it will be difficult for them to end." ”

"Then they exploit the business so much, no one will sue?"

Xiao Er shook his head: "It's not nothing, but the soldier said that they are only responsible for security issues, and this kind of thing is not their responsibility." Moreover, the gift-giving is voluntary, unless there is evidence that someone forced the gift-giving, in which case you can go to the royal capital to sue the royal court. Tell me, how can there be such a thing? ”

Li Wanru was about to ask, but a diner next to her finally picked up the topic and said: "Hey, if you want me to say that there is nothing wrong with this, anyway, it is all rich people's money, and we little people don't have any money to give it to the official master." ”

Li Wanru shook her head: "You can't say that, if the merchants are exploited too harshly, they will raise the price of goods and pass on the cost to the ordinary people, so that the purchasing power of the people will decline and the standard of living will decline." Are prices in Tang City much higher today than they were a few years ago? ”