Large and small caravans lined up in front of the pass to wait for the customs clearance, the soldiers guarding the pass stepped forward to count how many carriages of the caravan were going to leave the customs, and after the counting, they told the tax collector sitting in front of the city gate how many vehicles they had, and the tax collector would calculate how much customs duty each caravan should pay, and the merchants would hand over the customs duty to be paid to the tax collector to count the customs after they were correct, and it took about a stick of incense to get out of the customs 6-7 caravans

Li Song led the donkey: I estimate that we won't be able to get it in the afternoon when we build this speed

Li Long: I see that the brothers are a little tired from the journey, so why don't you let the brothers take a break here to catch their breath

Li Yang nodded: Hmm

Li Hu asked the brothers to gather the carriage and cart together, so that it was easy to take care of, everyone gathered together in a circle and sat on the ground and gossip, I and Li Song and a few of them found a sunny place to sit down, Li Long took out a few dry food from the package and handed it to everyone, the air-dried steamed buns chewed in the mouth so that the teeth and flowers hurt and it was difficult to swallow, the steamed buns were stuck in my throat and I hiccuped "uh"

Gao Gao shook his head with a smile: "The head of the Li family has never been out of the house when he sees you, you can't eat dry food like this, so you won't choke on a mouthful of dry food and a mouthful of water."

Li Yang: The high shopkeeper made you smile

Li Song pulled out a few green onions from the carriage, stroked them on his sleeves a few times, and handed them to everyone, the green onions were steamed buns, and some sauce was coming, which was a delicacy, not to mention how fragrant the food was

When he handed it to Gundam, he shook his hand: I can't enjoy this, so you should come

After a brief response, we looked at the pass, and there were still more than a dozen caravans waiting to get out of the customs in front of us, and it would take a while for our turn to take a nap on the wheels

Just after noon, Li Long stretched out his hand and pushed Li Yang, who was leaning on the wheels and napping: Young master-young master is about to wake up to us

I opened my eyes and immediately got up from the ground, patted the dust on my body with my hands, and drove the carriage with the others to the pass, and a soldier came over, and he stretched out his hand to stop the caravan: "Where are your exit documents?"

Li Song took out the customs exit documents from his arms and handed them over respectfully, and the soldier raised his hand to take the customs exit documents and opened them to take a look: You are from Taizhou

Li Song: Hmm

The soldiers looked Li Song up and down: What are you going to Fuguo for?

Li Song: Master Jun, seeing what you asked, we are businessmen, and of course we went to Fuguo to do business

The soldier held the customs document in his hand and put his right hand on the hilt of the sword, only to see him walk around the carriage and look back and forth: what was loaded on the carriage

Li Song: Master Hui, these vehicles are loaded with salt and herbs

The soldier grimaced: Is there any embargoed goods on the carriage?

Li Song hurriedly shook his hand: No, absolutely no, don't scare us, Master Jun, we are all businessmen, how dare we take the embargoed goods out of the customs

I saw that the soldier turned around and waved his hand towards the pass, and several soldiers guarding in front of the pass surrounded him with spears, Li Long and Li Hu saw that this was the consciousness of wanting to do it, so they quietly held their hands on the handle of the knife, and the soldiers spot-checked the goods on the carriage but found nothing

Until a soldier passed by Li Long and Li Hu, and saw that the two of them were still holding steel knives with fierce faces: What are you doing with knives when you go out

Li Long: Master Hui, we are all caravan guards, and we naturally carry knives to guard against bandits and bandits

Soldier: Show me your sword

Li Long stretched out his hand and handed over the steel knife, and the soldier took the steel knife and took it out and looked back and forth: Well, it's a good knife

After speaking, he returned the steel knife to Li Long, and then waved his hand: After paying the tax in the past, you can go out of the customs

Li Song arched his hands: Thank you

As soon as I arrived at the city gate, I saw a sign hanging on the city wall, which said that pedestrians need to pay 5 wen money to exit the customs, and horse-drawn carriages need to pay 50 wen yuan to exit the customs - and the wagons have to pay 500 wen yuan to leave the customs

Li Song bowed: 200 horse-drawn carriages - 300 wooden carts

When the tax collector heard the cart, a trace of surprise leaked from his face, "Cart"

Li Song: Yes, it's a cart - is there anything wrong with that, my lord?

The tax collector smiled slightly: There is nothing wrong with it, but the official does not know how to collect tax money on this cart, and it is the first time that the official has seen someone use a cart to transport goods out of customs

Li Song: My lord made you smile, and it was the first time for me to go out of the customs business, and the small business was not as good as those big caravans to transport goods out of the customs with carts, and I would like to ask you to help me find a way to be accommodating

The tax collector asked curiously: I don't know what kind of goods you are loading these immediately

Li Song: Your Excellency loaded these carriages with refined salt

When the tax collector heard this, his eyes were surprised and looked at the carriage directly: How many catties of salt do you have to hold in so many carriages?

Li Song: It's about more than 300,000 catties

The tax collector immediately stood up: Young man, you are too humble, salt is a profitable business, and you say that it is a small business, "Hey, the official can only buy a few catties of coarse salt in January."

Li Song turned around and waved his hand: The guys unloaded 20 denier refined salt from the car

Tax Collector: What are you doing here?

Li Song: Your Excellency and the soldiers have worked hard to protect the safety of Zhejiang, and they have worked hard to guard the border here

The tax collector did not postpone it, only to see him clasp his hands into fists: Then I thank you for my brothers here

Li Song: My lord, how do you see how these carts can get out of customs?

Tax collector: I see that the goods on your cart are only 200 catties at most, I don't think it's better to do this, 5 carts on the top of a carriage, you think it's good

Li Song: Well, everything is according to the consciousness of adults

The tax collector looked down and quickly calculated the duty to be paid when leaving the customs: you have to pay 135 silver coins

Li Song asked people to throw 135 silver coins into the cash box, and after confirming that they were correct, the tax collector wrote a tax payment and pushed it over: write your name in the lower left corner, and if there is no doubt, press a handprint on the name to draw a charge

Li Song stretched out his hands and took the tax bill: My lord, can we get out of the customs?

The tax collector shouted softly to the city gate: Let them out

After the caravan left the pass, Li Song picked up the tax slip and looked at it, which only wrote that the salt merchant went out of the customs with 200 carriages and collected 100 taels of tax silver, and Wan Xian, the town guard of Hanlong Pass, should be the name of the tax collector, as for the 35 taels, needless to say, they naturally put it in their pockets, as the old saying goes, what to do and what to eat, but what people didn't expect was that the border pass was so blatant that they didn't even bother to hide it

Hanlong Pass is only 1 kilometer away from Fuguo Xiyuan Pass, and this 1 kilometer distance is the buffer zone between Fuguo and Zhejiang, the two countries in order to monitor each other to build this piece of mountain into a plain, as long as the soldiers of the two countries stand on the city wall, you can clearly see the pass of the two countries, this plain in front of you has been trampled by caravans and pedestrians all year round has been all over the yellow sand

As soon as the caravan arrived at Xiyuan Pass, the soldiers of Fuguo stepped forward to block the way: Stop, take out your exit documents

Li Song quickly ran to the soldier and took out the customs document from his arms and handed it over, and the soldier took the document and opened it and read it: What are you going to do in Fuguo, Zhejiang people?

Li Song looked respectful: We are all businessmen who want to do some business in Fuguo

The soldiers looked Li Song up and down: What kind of business?

Li Song: Of course, you can do whatever you can make money

Soldier: What kind of cargo is on the car?

Li Song: The car was loaded with salt and some herbs

The soldier raised his hand and waved it forward, and more than a dozen defenders stepped forward to check the goods loaded in the car, and they pointed to the goods, and we unloaded the goods and opened them, which was similar to the scene we encountered in our own country when we were at Hanlong Pass, and the soldiers who checked the goods did not find anything and nodded to the commander behind them

The commander glanced at the caravan and then walked towards me, only to see that he raised his hand and grabbed the hat I was wearing on my head and lifted it up: Look at your clear eyebrows, fine eyes, fine skin and tender flesh, and do not want to win people in the outside business all the year round, say that you are not a fine work sent by Zhejiang

After hearing this, Li Yang pretended to bow respectfully in horror: The military master is small, I am a partner of this caravan, it is not a small work, I am just a little whiter than ordinary people

Then the commander grabbed my right hand and pulled it hard and touched it a few times: If I guessed correctly, the cocoon in your hand was sharpened by holding a knife all year round, and I dare to say that you are not a fine work sent by Zhejiang

Li Yang: The military master's small hands are calloused, and he grinds them out by working at home all the year round and holding farm tools, and he just wants to earn more money to support his family when he becomes a partner in the caravan

The commander shook my hand hard, then turned to the defenders in front of the city gate and waved his hand: Release

I thought that the matter was over like this, but I didn't expect the commander to suddenly turn around and quickly pull out the steel knife hanging on his waist, so sharp that the blade went straight to my neck, if I was cut by this knife, it would be braided

Qi Luck Dantian exerted his strength to eat milk, and exclaimed: "Ah! Kill people, Fu Jun kills people"

This sudden deafening sound can startle the surrounding Fu army and the passing caravan, and suddenly Li Long and Li Hu also pulled out half of the steel knife in their hands out of instinctive reaction, and I even trembled with my hands and pretended to be frightened, and there were hundreds of people around the Fu army and the passing caravan who looked at the soldier commander

At this time, the commander happened to be holding the steel knife hanging in the air, and suddenly he was obviously a little unconscious when so many people looked at him, only to see him withdraw the steel knife and insert it into the scabbard, and then stretched out his hands to grab my shirt and pull me up from the ground

He smiled and patted the dust on my clothes with his hand: Haha, don't be afraid that I'll make a joke on you

After saying that, he looked around: It's okay - it's okay, I'm kidding him

The surrounding Fu army and the passing caravan returned to normal, and when the commander saw Li Long and Li Hu, the two of them held the steel knife in their hands with an angry face: Yo, there are still a few people with knives, why do you still want to do it with me

Li Yang took advantage of the soldier's inattention to turn around and glanced at Li Long, and Li Long immediately understood my consciousness: Master Jun, you misunderstood us, how dare you make a mistake in front of you, we are the guards of this caravan, Master Jun, you also know that people who play with knives all year round will involuntarily hold the steel knife as long as they encounter danger, and you just pulled out the knife to frighten our brothers

When the commander heard the "um", it was the same thing, in order to protect the peace of the country, I can't let you not bring knives into the country, come and give me all their blades, and then let them enter the customs

More than a dozen soldiers of the Fu army surrounded and wanted to take away the blades in Li Long's hands, Li Long and Li Hu looked at me, if the soldiers were taken away by the Fu army, then this caravan encountered bandits and bandits in the territory of Fuguo, it was a piece of meat to be slaughtered, if you don't hand over the blades, this trip will be wasted

Just when I didn't know how to advance or retreat, Gundam walked unhurriedly from the crowd to the commander and saw him take off the hat on his head: Dare to ask General Fan Qifan if he is still in this Xiyuan Pass

Commander: How do you know General Fan?

Gao Gao: Fan Qi and I have been friends for many years, and this time I happened to pass through Xiyuan Pass to visit my old friend whom I haven't seen for many years

Commander: General Fan was transferred to Lanlin City, the national capital, as an officer two years ago

Gundam "Haha" - then I can only go to his mansion in Lanlin City to pay a visit to him

After speaking, he took out a bag of silver coins from the package, and hurriedly and quietly stuffed it into the hands of the commander while there were few people around: Please smile if you have a little heart from this military master

Commander: You know General Fan, so I've thanked you for these brothers

I saw him wave his hand and turn around and shout softly: Let go

When he arrived at the gate of Xiyuan, Li Song took the initiative to ask the tax collector: My lord, I don't know how much tax and silver my caravan should pay when entering the country

The tax collector glanced at the caravan: How much tax and silver do you pay in Zhejiang, and how much tax and silver do you pay when you enter Fuguo, show me the tax bill issued by Zhejiang

Li Song handed over the tax bill, and the tax collector took the tax bill and looked at it: This tax bill only records that 200 carriages went out of the customs to pay taxes and 100 silver coins, and I see that your caravan still has hundreds of carts

Li Song: My lord, I paid 35 silver coins to these carts and guys, but it was not recorded on this tax bill

The tax collector smiled with satisfaction: You are still honest, and you can enter the country after paying the tax and silver

After paying the tax and silver, we crossed the Xiyuan Pass and entered the territory of Fuguo, in front of us was a dense jungle, a path divided this forest in two, the caravan followed the path through the woods, and indeed a three-way junction appeared

Li Yang asked Gundam: "Shopkeeper Gao, do you think we should take that road."

Gundam: Take the middle road to go directly to Lanlin City, the capital of Fuguo, where not only rich merchants gather but also caravans from other countries, and the 300,000 catties of salt brought by the caravan should be sold quickly

Li Yang: Okay, then we'll go to Lanlin City

And in a brightly lit green building in Shaoxing Mansion, Zhejiang, on the first floor, the musicians are playing beautiful music, the singers are dressed like fairies and have to dance to the music, and there are rich children and magnates who hug the girl to have fun, and on the second floor are some boxes dedicated to the pleasure of big businessmen and officials, and outside one of the most luxurious and magnificent boxes is kneeling a swordsman wearing a hat: According to the spies, the young master of the Li family in Alan County took people out of the customs and went to Fuguo

A hoarse voice came from the box: Do you know what he is doing in Fuguo?

Swordsman: I heard that the spy said that he went to Fuguo to buy grain, and Hua Ye sent the culprit to Alan County last time and failed to eradicate him, and this time his subordinates wanted to take the culprit to Fuguo to get rid of this scourge

Hua Ye: You don't need a small garrison to let him go, there are more important things for you to do now, you go down first, you can't act without my order

Swordsman: It's Hua Ye

A few days later, Gundam took the caravan to the capital of Fuguo, Lanlin City, the streets were paved with neat stone bricks, on both sides were teahouses, taverns, pawnshops, workshops and other shops, on both sides of the open space there were many small vendors with big umbrellas, the pedestrians on the street were constantly carrying burdens to deliver goods, there were ox carts to deliver goods, there were donkeys to pull trucks, as soon as the caravan entered the market, many rich merchants surrounded us to inquire what kind of goods were loaded on our car, and after learning that the cars were loaded with refined salt, the rich merchants invited our group to a shop

A wealthy merchant wearing a silk robe with a fat head and big ears: How much do you plan to sell for refined salt, if the price is right, we will collect this batch of salt

Li Song summed up the first bite in his heart, and the quotation can't be said too little, but it can't be too much: I want to sell 60 lines of refined salt for a total of 300,000 catties per catty

The rich businessmen laughed when they heard this, you are the first time to come to Fuguo to do business

Li Song: It is indeed the first time that a businessman from Zhejiang has come to Fuguo

The rich merchant "haha" The price you gave is too expensive, and only a few of us can buy this batch of refined salt at one time in Lanlin City, you give a real price and we will sum it up

Li Song discussed with a few of us, and finally gave a price of 50 yuan a catty

The rich businessmen still laughed loudly: You don't know the salt market in Fuguo, refined salt is only sold for 30 yuan a pound in Fuguo, I think so, 20 yuan a pound, if it works, we will keep this batch of salt

Li Song: Then I'll take a look elsewhere

After saying that, a few of us got up and prepared to go elsewhere to have a look, and the rich merchant saw that we were going to leave and quickly stood up: a few of us must be tired of hurrying, although this business has not been done, we can still make a friend, maybe I have the goods you need here

After speaking, the rich businessman clapped his hands and "served tea", and the other rich businessmen got up and left, and after chatting with the rich businessman in front of him, Li Song asked him: Then do you have grain to sell?

Rich Merchant: I don't know how much you want to buy

Li Song: I have to get 5-6 million catties

When the rich businessman heard that this was a big business, he said: Then I can give you at least 5 yuan a pound

Li Song: I'm not in a hurry, I have to sell the salt before I can buy grain, and we'll have to look elsewhere when it's not too early

The rich merchant hesitated for a while: I can't add 5 lines of money to you for every catty of salt

Li Song: Thank you for your kindness, but I'd like to see it elsewhere

Our group took the caravan to several shops, and the strange thing is that the rich merchants gave the same 20 yuan per catty, and it seems that when we were chatting with the rich merchant in the shop just now, the other rich merchants have already communicated with these merchants, which also makes us understand what it means to die on the ground

Li Song: The boss should sell it for 25 lines

Li Yang: "Hey" can only be like this

Gundam: I can't hold my breath so quickly, and you're still a soldier

Li Yang: What should you do about this?

Gundam: Come with me

Gundam took us to a spacious mansion, and the owner of this mansion happened to be a wealthy merchant who had been his friend for many years, and after learning of our intention, he was willing to pay 30 taels a pound to accept this batch of refined salt, and we bought 5 million catties of rice at a price of 5 pounds a pound from him, and soon the news spread in the bazaar

At night, we stayed in an inn when we were about to fall asleep, suddenly there was a "knock" knock on the door urgently, Li Song opened the door to see that it was the group of rich merchants during the day, this time they gave a price of 35 yuan per catty of salt, and the condition was that 5 million catties of rice were bought from them, so that we spent 14,500 silver coins to buy 5 million catties of grain, which was thousands of silver coins saved in Zhejiang

Before leaving, Gundam took me back to the house, and the whole thing was actually a clasp that Gundam made with his friend of the wealthy businessman, and as a token of appreciation, Gundam asked me to give his friend 500 silver coins

We hired more than 300 wagons to transport grain in Lanlin City, and when the caravan returned to Zhejiang, an army of nearly 1,000 men set up a block here on the official road leading from the pass to Chuzhou

A general approached: "What is the car?"

Li Song: My lord, these cars are loaded with grain

The general shouted: "Come on, detain all this food for me."

Li Song's face was blind: My lord, why is this?

General: The national capital has issued a customs closure order, and all convoys carrying grain are not allowed to enter or leave