After arriving in the back hall, Mr. Sun invited me to sit down, and then asked the maid to bring a pot of tea and a plate of pastries, I quickly got up, took the teapot, put the teacup in front of the adult, respectfully got the cup of tea, and then picked up another teacup and poured a cup of tea for myself

Sun Yuanwu: How about you try this tea?

Li Yang stretched out his hands and picked up the teacup on the table and put it to his mouth and took a sip, only to see his eyes narrow, grinning and shrinking his head back: What kind of tea is this, my lord, why is it so bitter

Sun Yuanwu: "Haha", this is the Longding tea brought by a friend of mine, this tea is indeed a little bitter when you swallow it, and there will be a tea fragrance in your mouth after you swallow it

Li Yang put the teacup to his mouth at the time: Then I'm giving it a try

This time, according to the method that the adult said, he swallowed this cup of bitter tea, "um", after swallowing this tea, there was indeed a strong fragrance in his mouth: the adults and grass people drank this tea for the first time

Sun Yuanwu nodded with satisfaction, "Hmm", and raised his hand to get the pastry on the table: Come on, how about you taste this plum blossom cake

Li Yang reached out and picked up a piece of plum blossom cake from the plate and put it in his mouth, this plum blossom cake was soft and filled with bean paste and added some plum blossoms, and there was a sweetness with plum blossom flavor in his mouth: Delicious - can I eat a piece of it, adult

Sun Yuanwu: "Haha", you drink a cup of tea first, and try eating a piece of plum blossom cake

Li Yang picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea to his mouth and drank it all, he held back the bitterness in his mouth and quickly picked up a piece of plum blossom cake and stuffed it into his mouth

Sun Yuanwu: You can understand the meaning of this, and it is not in vain that the government invited you to come today

As soon as Li Yang heard that Mr. Sun had something to say, he thought that after bidding, Mr. Sun invited me to the back hall to drink tea and made a bitter and sweet: My lord, will the business road of the grass people be like this tea and plum blossom cake

Sun Yuanwu raised his head and laughed, "Haha" You can see a layer of this mansion is very gratifying, everything is difficult at the beginning, this mansion is worried that you will give up as soon as you encounter a setback, remember that no matter what kind of difficulties you encounter in the future, you must persevere, this mansion and the general will go behind you to support you with all their might

Li Yang: Adults and grass people don't understand what difficulties a business can encounter

Sun Yuanwu: In the eyes of you and the group of wealthy businessmen, this may be just a business, but in the eyes of the government and the general, it is a game of chess

Li Yang missed a trace of doubts about the chess game of the game: the adults forgive the grass people for being stupid

Sun Yuanwu: In recent years, the taxes collected by Zhejiang are getting smaller and smaller year by year, the price of grain, salt and cloth is getting higher and higher year by year, so that the common people can't afford to buy grain and wear clothes, and the illegal profiteers and the scum in the government collude with each other to make the people have no land to cultivate

Li Yang: The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of the people, and if there are grass people who can do their part, the grass people should be responsible

Sun Yuanwu: The general and the government really didn't misunderstand the people, the contest between this merchant is no less than a war, you should be more careful yourself, these people can do anything to achieve their goals

Li Yang: The words of the adults should be taken to heart

Sun Yuanwu: In the future, don't be unorthodox and unorthodox, if you are a scholar, you should consider yourself a student

Li Yang: Yes, my lord

Sun Yuanwu: The deposit promised by the general in advance has been sent to the prefect's yamen, and the government will send someone to give you the deposit and send it to the manor

Li Yang hurriedly got up and bowed: The student thanked the adult

Sun Yuanwu: Don't be in a hurry to thank you, this deposit can only be given to you half of it now

Li Yang: My lord, why is that?

Sun Yuanwu: You still owe 200,000 taels of land tax to the Taizhou government, and the government will pay off part of the land tax for you with half of the deposit, so you still owe the Taizhou government 160,000 taels of land tax

Li Yang: My lord, if you deduct half of the deposit, then the students will not have enough money to raise military supplies

Sun Yuanwu looked at it with a smile: If you change to someone else, I'm afraid it won't work, but this government believes that you will definitely have a way, and you will have to pay the land tax owed to Taizhou Mansion sooner or later

Li Yang: But my lord

Seeing that Sun Yuanwu's face sank, he raised his hand to stop his words: This matter is settled, if you don't have anything else, then go back to this mansion, there are still some official affairs to deal with

Seeing that half of the deposit in the posture must not come out, he had no intention of saying more Li Yang got up and bowed: My lord, the student retired first

In the evening, a cavalry team of nearly 100 people escorted 5 silver carts to the manor, the family unloaded the boxes on the carriage and carried them to the silver treasury, each box contained 12,000 silver in a total of 40 boxes, after confirming that the deposit of 40,000 taels was correct, Li Song and the leading cavalry made a handover, seeing that the sky was about to get dark, the cavalry escorting the silver cart had to rush back to Taizhou City to return to Lord Sun, so he took out a bag of silver coins from his sleeve, about 70-80 taels, When people are not paying attention, they quietly stuff it into the hands of the leading cavalry: I sent the weather to buy some wine and meat for the brothers to warm up

The leading cavalry hurriedly put the money bag in his arms: Then I thanked the brothers

Li Song and the leading cavalry walked and chatted until they were sent outside the manor, and after the cavalry left, he quickly turned around and ran towards the council hall, as the door was pushed open, the people who had been waiting here all looked at Li Song, he panted and pressed his hands on his thighs: the boss 40,000 taels of silver to confirm that it was correct

Han Juzheng: This silver is really a send-off

Li Yang: I have summoned you brothers today to discuss two things, one is to raise military supplies, and the other is that I plan to go to the south of the country

Li Song: Newly opened fields need to pay a tael of land tax, according to 500 lines of money to pay 200 catties per mu, we borrowed 9 million catties of grain from Cao's shopkeeper plus half of the interest is 13.5 million catties, 200,000 mu of land is evenly divided, each mu has to pay 70 catties of grain and a tax of 10 percent, if you pay grain, you need to pay 310 catties of grain per mu of land

Li Yang: Juzheng: Tomorrow, you will send people to the villages to post the notice of the requisition of grain in advance, and the grain will be levied and all the things will be clearly written, so that people can know at a glance what is going on, not what we have done in the middle, and don't make up 310 catties of 300 catties of grain in the county to make up for it, and tell the villagers that it will be tight this year and wait for next year

Han Juzheng: Tomorrow I will ask the officials to put up the notice

Li Yang: At present, Zhejiang is in an eventful autumn, and what we can do for the country is to actively pay taxes

Gao Yuan: You still don't know who our brothers are?

Yuan Kui: I didn't have that head when I wanted to do something cheating and tricking

"Haha" burst into laughter in the chamber

Gao Yuan: By the way, how many military supplies did Lord Sun ask you to raise?

Li Yang: 350,000 quintals of military rations, 100,000 quintals of forage, and 8,000 quintals of refined salt are a total of 200,000 taels of silver

Yuankui: Okay, why do you suddenly want to go to the south?

Li Yang: We can make money in the business of Zhejiang are all in the hands of rich businessmen, we do are some people look down on the eyes of the small business, in the past, everyone was tight, life was able to get by, but now there is one more militia group, this money is not enough to spend, I heard that the south is a rich place, I and the second child want to see if there is any money-making business, just I also want to go out for a long walk

Gao Yuan: When are you going to leave?

Li Yang: Just these two days

Yuankui: Then how long are you going to go this time?

Li Yang: It may take about a month, you don't have to tell anyone about my going to the south, if anyone inquires, they will say that I and my second child went to other places to do business

Li Long: Young Master, then Li Hu and I will accompany you

Li Yang: It's about to be the season of harvesting grain, you stay at home to help make crops, this time I plan to go to the south of the country, I plan to take Guanshan Daoist and Tie Gui'er and dozens of guards to accompany me, during the time I went out, everyone performed their duties as usual, and during this time, you organized some people to build the granary

Han Juzheng: Okay, I'll do this

Li Yang: During this period of time in Gaoyuan-Yuankui, you can take up your mind about the affairs of the family, and if you need money, you can go to the bank to get it

Gao Yuan: Don't worry about it at home, there are these brothers

Yuankui: If there is anything, the brothers will discuss it

Li Yang: Okay, let's go here today, everyone should go back early

Two days later, in the early morning, the fog was very large, shrouded in the entire northern part of Taizhou, the day was just a little bright, people were still asleep in the bed, when a caravan of nearly 100 people set off silently, this time the business was different from the past, only brought 5 carriages, there was not too much goods, the entourage was carrying some daily necessities and food, and a small amount of Chinese medicine, and the weapons carried by the guards were all specially made iron bones

When I arrived in the suburbs full of misty woods, I could only see the path under my feet, and occasionally one or two deer or robes would suddenly come out of the woods, and many people were startled when they wore such a thing, and when they saw that it was a deer, the people who were scared thought about it were funny, and a few deer kept a distance from us in the woods and looked at us curiously

The caravan traveled day and night for nearly two days, and entered Wenzhou Mansion in a bag in Panshan, in order to hide people's eyes, the caravan was divided into two waves when it went to Beiyan Mountain, and the small number of caravans was used by Li Song to confuse others, and their task was to travel in the mountains and rivers in Zhejiang by the way to investigate the market conditions of various provinces, and the rest of the people took a small boat in Linhai Fishing Village to the sparsely populated Yuhuan Island to meet the fleet and go north to the south

After drifting at sea for 6 days, the fleet finally entered the southern waters, as soon as we entered the sea, we were surprised by the sight, this sea area is too busy, all kinds of passing ships of different sizes can be seen everywhere, take the three-sail warship, it is a large ship in Zhejiang, and on this sea, at best, it is a medium-sized ship, and the ship can sail all the way to the South Tianfu Fucheng Wharf along the sea

After approaching the coast, the Nantian City that appeared in front of you was much larger than expected, the magnificent city wall could not be seen from a distance, the city wall was full of guards and brightly colored flags, there was a moat more than ten meters wide under the city wall, the water was turquoise, you can imagine its depth, when the ship was about to dock, there were dense all kinds of merchant ships docked near the dock, why did it take a long time to find a place to park the ship

After a few days of drifting on the sea, we felt that our legs were soft, and everyone stretched and moved their legs and feet on the dock to get used to it, when more than a dozen southern soldiers in armor came towards us

One of the commanders looked at us and pointed to the ship: This ship is yours

Li Yang bowed to the commander out of politeness: What happened to the official envoy that this ship is ours

The commander looked us up and down: I see that you don't look like southerners

Li Yang: The official envoy has good eyesight, and we are from Zhejiang

Commander: Zhejiang, what are you doing in the south?

Li Yang: The official envoy is a businessman, these are my buddies, and I came to Nanguo this time to see if there is any business that can make money

The commander of the army smug and gently tapped his hand on my chest: Our southern country has a vast territory and rich products, and if you want to do a business to make money, then you have come to the right place, how many days do you plan to stop at the dock on this ship

Li Yang: It may take 10 days or 20 days

Commander: Why did you stop for so many days?

Li Yang: The official envoy came to the south for the first time, and he wanted to visit here for a few more days to see the places of interest and historic sites

Commander: Out of Nantian City, you take a boat along the Rouge River to the south, Baishi Lake and Danyang Lake are places worth playing, you might as well go and see them

Li Yang: Then I must go and see it in the next place

Commander: Do you have any embargoed cargo on this ship?

Li Yang: Officials make us all businessmen

The commander waved his hand at the soldiers, and more than a dozen southern soldiers went to the ship to check around to see if there was any embargoed goods, and the soldiers carefully checked every corner and did not find the embargoed goods, and then checked the packages of our group and found iron bones

The commander picked up an iron bone and looked at me: What do you explain this?

Li Yang smiled: The official makes us perennial businessmen afraid of encountering thieves, and these iron bones are what we use to support ourselves

Commander: You can rest assured of the security of Nantian City, if there are hooligans who dare to harass the merchant government, they will not be spared, as for these iron bones, you can put them on the ship

Li Yang bowed: Thank you, envoy

After speaking, he asked people to take away the iron bones and put them on the ship in front of the southern soldiers, and the commander saw that we were honest, and it was not too difficult for us: these two ships docked at the dock for 5 taels of silver a day, and 100 taels of silver for 20 days

After paying the money, we left some people to build and watch the boats, and the rest of the people entered the South Sky City, the streets were densely packed with passers-by, the shops on both sides of the road were all two-story brick buildings, and the porters pushed carts full of goods and shouted at the passers-by, "Let one go-let one", the stalls of the merchants were all rectangular wooden huts, even if it rained, they did not delay their business, and the pedestrians wore different styles of clothes, which should also be merchants from other places

On this street, I just walked for a while and met two groups of patrol soldiers, just from this point you can see how strict the security of Nantian City is, our group is like a silly boy who has entered the city, everything is fresh, especially Li Song and Tie Gui'er, they are the most obvious, along the way, it belongs to the two of them, the happiest of the two of them, one moment beckoning here, "you come and see" and beckoning there, "You come here", I don't know how the two of them have so much physical strength, not at all like wandering on the sea for several days

Tired of wandering, our group found an inn to settle down, the guy was quite enthusiastic, as soon as we entered the door, he respectfully greeted him: Guest officer, are you staying in the hotel or eating here

Li Song: Man, we are all together, please find us a house next to each other

Man: Guest, do you live in a bunk or a guest room?

Li Yang: Is there any difference?

Guy: The guest officer bunk is a large board bed, several people sleep together, the price is relatively cheap, only 20 lines per person a day, the guest room has two people - 4 people and 6 people room, six people a day 200 lines of money - 4 people room a day 300 lines of money - two rooms are a first-class room 400 lines a day

Li Yang: More than 70 of us all live in guest rooms, you can arrange it for us

Man: I'm really sorry that the shop doesn't have so many rooms right now, if you don't dislike it, there is a wing room in the backyard of the shop

Li Yang: Then you can take us to have a look

Under the guidance of the man, our group came to the backyard of the inn, the wing room in his mouth turned out to be a square courtyard, there can be more than ten houses, if there are outsiders into the yard, we can immediately notice, and it is convenient for us to store some goods in the yard or something

Li Yang: Man, we have chartered this room, you see how much it costs

Man: Guest, how about you see 3 taels of silver a day?

Li Yang calculated in his heart that a talent worth more than 40 lines is quite cost-effective: man, I will charter this wing room for 20 days first, and if the matter is not completed, it may have to live for some time

Man: Please rest assured that as long as you don't check out, we won't let anyone else live in this room

Li Yang waved his hand: The second child will give money

Li Song counted more than 60 silver coins and handed them to the guy: The guy will prepare some of your good wine and food for us

The guy looked at the silver coin in his hand happily: Okay, you can see it, officer

After dividing the room, everyone went back to their respective houses, and after a brief tidying up, Li Yang fell on the bed, and instantly felt that the muscles and joints of his body were all relaxed, not to mention how comfortable it was, or the bed on land was comfortable, and I didn't sleep a good night's sleep in the past few days on the sea, until the guy prepared the wine and food, and the second old man greeted me: The boss has prepared the wine and food, and the brothers are waiting for you

Li Yang: I'll be here right away

To be honest, I really don't want to get up when I lie on the bed like this, I just want to lie down like this and sleep until tomorrow morning, even if I don't want to, I still have to get up, because in the afternoon, I still have to go to the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce to visit the Ma Nan Ma shopkeeper who has a relationship with me

When I got to the dinner table, I took a look at the good guys, today's dishes were not bad, several plates of whole roast chicken, roast duck and a few plates of freshly boiled pork and beef, and there were a few local specialties of the south and river fish, I didn't feel hungry, but as soon as I smelled the fragrance of the dishes, the stomach of the people present growled

Li Yang: If there are no outsiders, don't hide it, let it go, let it go, and eat

In fact, everyone couldn't bear to hear this, so they rolled up their arms and sleeves and started to build it, seeing these brothers in front of them one by one, this is what a man should look like, eating meat and drinking wine, and the guys on the side were stunned when they saw the group of people in front of them eating like they were eating

Li Yang smiled: Man, I want to ask you about something

Man: Guest, please speak

Li Yang: Do you know where the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce is?

Man: Guest, you're going to the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce

Li Yang: Exactly

Man: Guest officer, this Nantianfu is too big, I told you, you may not be able to find it, why don't you do this, I'll let someone take it to the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce in a while

Li Yang arched his hand: Then there is work, by the way, man, what kind of chamber of commerce is this Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce in Nantianfu

Man: The guest officer Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce is one of the few wealthy businessmen in Nantianfu, and their business is all over the country

Listening to the guy say this, I really came to the right place on this trip to the south of the country, and it also made me full of interest in the Nanjiang Chamber of Commerce