"The criminal department gave Gao Lan a kick-off in the matter, saying that His Majesty's move to set up a tax department is purely to compete with the people for profit and disrupt the national tax system, saying that I have my own tax system in the Ming Dynasty, Chongwenmen Tax Customs, and the two counties of Wanping and Daxing in Shuntian Mansion all have the responsibility of collecting commercial taxes, and then use the tax department to levy commercial taxes, which is really thirsty and fishing." Wang Chengen held a note and read it to Zhu Youjian.

"Thirsty and fishing, competing with the people for profit, give this insight in the matter, let Cao Huachun go and check who is called Gao Lan, who is Gao Lan talking for!" Zhu Youzhen said coldly.

"Yes, I'll let someone inform the factory." Wang Chengen hurriedly said.

"Keep reading." Zhu Youzhen leaned on the brocade and said.

Wang Chengen began to read again.

"Emperor, the factory is here." Leaned slightly, and a little eunuch came to report.

"Meet the Emperor." Cao Huachun knelt and kowtowed.

"Otomo flats." Zhu Youzhen waved his hand.

"Your Majesty, the old slave ordered someone to check the archives of Jinyiwei, and that Gao Lan met with the housekeeper Gongshun Hou in the alley of the division yesterday afternoon, and accepted a bribe of one hundred taels of silver from the housekeeper." Cao Huachun said.

"Hmph, this Wu Weixian still refuses to stop." Zhu Youzhen sneered.

"According to the report of the brocade secret agent of the Gongshun Hou Mansion, because the house slave was killed, the Gongshun Hou thought that Zhao Shujiao swept his face, and he was furious, and he killed several slaves and maids in the mansion in the past few days, and kept saying that he would never give up with Zhao Shujiao." Cao Huachun continued.

"Ignore him for now, by the way, how will the other nobles react?" Zhu Youzhen continued to ask.

"The Marquis of Fengcheng once said privately that His Majesty was too strict with Xungui, and he did not remember the merits of Xungui's ancestors back then. Dingxi Hou and Huaining Hou complained when they drank in private, saying that His Majesty was mean and unkind, and there were too many poor emperors...... "Cao Huachun took out a stack of papers and read them page by page, which turned out to be the private behavior of the nobles.

"By the way, how did the British Duke react?" Zhu Youzhen listened silently, and finally asked.

"According to the secret report of the British government, the British public has not expressed any opinion on the tax department, whether in public or in private, and since Ping Liaobo killed the people of Gongshun Hou in Gongshun Hou's silk village, the British public has closed the door on the grounds of ill health, and has not seen anyone again." Cao Huachun said.

"The British Duke is still old and seeking the country, and he passed on my will, sent the imperial doctor in the palace to diagnose the country, and gave ginseng and other precious medicinal materials." Zhu Youzhen said.

"By the way, what is the reaction of the ordinary people of Jingshi?" Zhu Youzhen asked.

"The small people talked a lot, most of them were excited, talking about the heroes of Ping Liao Bozhen, who even dared to kill the people who were obedient to the Hou Mansion, and there were also many small businessmen who were worried, worried that the tax department would collect taxes from them. However, this issue of the Royal People's Newspaper has already explained the matter of the tax department, telling the people of the city that the tax is only for the large shops, and does not involve ordinary small merchants and hawkers. The two counties of Shuntianfu and Wanping Daxing also posted notices to appease the small people in the jurisdiction. Cao Huachun said.

Zhu Youzhen nodded, expressing satisfaction.

However, if taxes are raised, it will inevitably cause panic in the people, and many people will be dissatisfied.

It has only been more than a month since the establishment of the Taxation Department, and it has received more than 1 million taels of silver in commercial taxes in the city of Beijing. It's a pity that it is not easy to expand to other prefectures and counties, and it will inevitably be opposed by civil officials. And now there are not many talents available in their hands, and there are still too few graduates from business schools!

"Through the Royal People's Newspaper issued an enrollment notice, the Royal School of Commerce and Trade is open to the whole country to enroll, all the people of the Ming Dynasty, those who pass the examination can sign up for the examination, and those who pass the examination will be exempted from any fees. The next batch of students will enroll 3,000 people! Zhu Youzhen said.

"Three thousand, I'm afraid the business school building can't accommodate it." Wang Chengen said.

"Then expand the school building, and the entire Haoshan Park can be converted into a business school." Zhu Youzhen said.

It happened that a large amount of money was collected from the businessman's tax, and a part of it was invested in cultivating talents.

The tax bank of the Department of Commerce has solved the urgent need, so that Zhu Youjian's inner treasury is rich again, and there is no problem in supporting it for at least a few months. In a few months, the taxes of the mountains and rivers in various places and the income of the royal trade of Zhangjiakou will be escorted to Beijing one after another. More importantly, the fleets that went to trade with the Japanese will also return to Fujian, and the silver earned by the sea trade will be escorted to Beijing. At that point, there is no need to be afraid of lack of money.

The top priority now is to stabilize the tax department in Beijing, and the civil officials have successively demanded the dissolution of the tax department on the grounds that the disaster relief is over.

According to Zhu Youzhen's idea, it is best to merge the Chongwenmen Tax Gate and other tax yamen with the Taxation Department, and make all the tax collection work in Beijing the Taxation Department in charge. But this is impossible, and the courtiers will definitely not agree. If it is really merged, the civil officials will definitely not allow the tax department to be returned to the Dongchang administration, and they will definitely try to put the tax department under the household department, which will be more troublesome.

In the afternoon, Zhu Youzhen was reluctant to work anymore and decided to go out of the palace to relax.

entered Xiyuan as usual, took Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan's two followers, and obeyed Xiyuan out of the palace.

The snow has long melted, the weather is getting warmer and warmer, the spring of Chongzhen's three years has come, and the streets are full of people and lively.

The guys in front of the store shouted one after another, the street was full of traffic, looking at the lively situation, as if it was a prosperous age, and Zhu Youzhen was also a little in a trance for a while.

But he soon came to his senses, what he saw in front of him was just an illusion, and the power of the entire Ming Dynasty was used to supply Beijing City, so that there was a prosperous scene in front of him, and outside Beijing, ordinary people were still waiting to be fed, that is, the people in the outer city, and it was difficult to continue in the slightest disaster day. According to Jinyiwei intelligence, Shandong, Henan and other places are still full of displaced people, that is, Jiangnan, which is known for its prosperity and wealth, and hundreds of people still starved to death because of drought last year!

"Alas!" Zhu Youzhen couldn't help but sigh.

Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan glanced at each other, and they both felt that Zhu Youzhen was in a bad mood.

"Childe, why don't we go to the front hotel and sit down?" Li Dingguo suggested.

Zhu Youzhen nodded: "Okay." ”

Every time Weifu goes out of the palace, Zhu Youzhen will casually choose a hotel restaurant to sit in, eat some food that cannot be eaten in the palace, and listen to the chats and conversations of other guests to experience the people's feelings.

Just as the three of them walked towards the hotel in front, Li Dingguo's eyes swept upward, and he suddenly saw the window of the storefront building above the diagonal top opened, and a cold light shone into his eyes.

"Be careful!" Li Dingguo suddenly burst out and pushed Zhu Youzhen away.

At this moment, a bowstring vibrated and a feather arrow was inserted into Li Dingguo's abdomen. Li Dingguo didn't care at all, took out a short knife from his arms, and danced in front of Zhu Youzhen.

At the same time as Li Dingguo shouted, Zhang Huangyan also acted quickly, took out two short sticks from his sleeve and put them together, forming a two-piece stick, dancing to block several feather arrows that were fired.

Several second-floor windows of the shop were pushed open at the same time, and behind each window stood a masked archer, one after another shooting arrows at the three of them.

Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan struggled to block and firmly protected Zhu Youzhen with their bodies.

"Ahh A pedestrian in the street was shot by an arrow and screamed.

There was chaos on the streets, and passers-by ran to take shelter. Vegetable baskets were overturned, burdens were thrown on the road, and the whole street was in chaos.

Suddenly encountering an assassination, Zhu Youzhen was also a little stunned for a while, a little at a loss, and a little scared, it was the first time he had encountered this situation after being the emperor for two generations.

"Your Majesty retreats into the shop." Li Dingguo drank violently, picked up a bench from the side of the road, and waved it desperately, and at some point he inserted two more feather arrows into his body.

Zhu Youzhen recovered from the panic and hurriedly retreated to a shop on the street, which was a teahouse, but as long as he ran in, he could at least dodge the feather arrows.

"Please, you guys go somewhere else." Xiao Er rushed over and blocked it with open hands, not wanting to cause trouble for the teahouse.

The situation was urgent, and someone stopped him, Zhang Huangyan was angry, and he pulled it with a stick, and it was smashed on the guy's head, and the guy fell to the ground without saying a word.

Zhu Youzhen stepped over the guy's body and rushed into the store, Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan also rushed in, pushing the door panel hard, and the sound of "poof" sounded, I don't know how many arrows were shot on the door panel.

"Move the table and hold the door!" Li Dingguo shouted at a few trembling customers in the store. The guests sat trembling one by one, and no one dared to move.

"I am the eternal horse of today, and whoever helps me survive this calamity, I will definitely tell Your Majesty to give him wealth." Zhu Youzhen suddenly shouted. But he didn't tell his identity, because he was afraid that no one would believe it, so he reported Gong Yonggu's name.

After finishing speaking, Zhu Youzhen remembered something again, and reached out and took out a handful of golden beans from his arms: "Whoever comes to help, these golden beans will be rewarded to whom!" ”

There must be a brave man under the heavy reward, and the customers in the store, including the shopkeeper hiding behind the counter, all moved, and together they lifted several tables and blocked the door.

"Bump!" There was a loud bang, and the door panel was shaken. Fortunately, there was a table in the way, otherwise it would have been knocked down.

"Dingguo, are you okay?" Looking at the few feather arrows stuck in Li Dingguo's body, Zhu Youzhen asked worriedly.

Li Dingguo grinned: "It's okay, I'm wearing soft armor in my clothes." ”

As he spoke, he severed the exposed shaft with his short knife.

"Bump!" A window was smashed to pieces, and a figure leaped in.

"Kill!" Li Dingguo raised the short knife and rushed over, fighting with the comer, and the rabbit fell to the head, and he didn't know how many rounds he had handed over, and he saw the masked man screaming and falling to the ground, with blood flowing from his chest.

"Dare to be an assassin even with this little thing!" Li Dingguo took a mouthful of blood and said disdainfully.

"Bump!" The window on the left side of the door was also smashed, and another figure rushed in, Zhang Huangyan greeted him without saying a word, dancing nunchucks and fighting with the comer, the figures suddenly closed and dispersed, the masked man had been smashed to the ground, and Zhang Huangyan's left shoulder was also cut.

Two more masked men jumped in from the window and fought with Zhang Huangyan and Li Dingguo. Looking at more and more assassins, Zhu Youzhen's heart cooled.

Knowing the time and route of his travel, and laying an ambush in advance, who is going to put me to death?

Li Dingguo and Zhang Huangyan were each entangled by a masked man, and another masked man jumped into the store and forced Zhu Youzhen with a steel knife.

"Bastard!" Li Dingguo roared angrily, stabbing at the masked man in front of him with one knife after another, trying to drive away the masked man to protect the emperor, but the masked man in front of him was very strong, and he dragged him to death, and there was no way for a while.

Zhang Huangyan pursed his lips, the nunchucks danced like wheels, and then moved towards Zhu Youzhen, who knew that the third masked man lifted his feet and kicked a table over, blocking Zhang Huangyan.

Zhu Youzhen grabbed a bench with both hands and blocked it in front of his chest, his body kept retreating, and he quickly retreated to the counter, looking at the masked man approaching in front of him, his heart was full of despair.

"Who the hell are you, do you know that the assassination of me is to destroy the Nine Clans?" Zhu Youzhen shouted sharply.

"The Nine Clans?" The masked man smiled, "Dog Emperor, if you can find my Nine Clans, I really want to thank you." ”

At the moment of life and death, Zhu Youzhen calmed down: "As long as you can let me go, I promise not to pursue you, and I will reward you heavily!" ”

"Hahaha......" The masked man laughed, his laughter was full of desolation, "Dog Emperor, you are still lying to people when you are dying, do you think I will believe you?" ”

"Who sent you, what kind of enmity do you have with me, can you make me understand?" Zhu Youzhen hurriedly said.

"Old Five, don't talk nonsense, Jinyiwei is coming soon, kill the Dog Emperor!" The masked man who was fighting with Li Dingguo suddenly shouted.

"Big brother, don't worry, before Jinyi Wei comes, I will definitely be able to kill the Dog Emperor." The masked man called Lao Wu laughed.

"Bastard, hurry up, or you won't be able to escape." The masked man was furious.

"Run? Big brother, why are you so naïve, where do we want to escape after killing the emperor? Lao Wu said with a smile.

"You bastard!"

Lao Wu no longer paid attention to him, and slowly pressed towards Zhu Youzhen, with a cruel smile on his face: "Dog Emperor, didn't you ask me what enmity I had with you?" Does the revenge of killing the father count, and does the revenge of killing the whole family count?

Today I will kill you slowly, first by cutting off your arms, then your legs, and finally your head. ”

Zhu Youzhen's heart suddenly changed, knowing that he might not be able to be good today, this masked man somehow had such hatred with himself.

"Who the hell are you, what kind of enmity do you have with me, can you make me a ghost?" Zhu Youzhen still remained calm and said.

The whole city of Beijing is full of Jinyi guards, and they are also followed by the guards far behind them, as long as they delay for a moment, there will definitely be rescuers coming.

"What hatred? Let me tell you. The masked man named Lao Wu said with a smile, and suddenly slashed at Zhu Youzhen.