"Daddy—the meal is ready, please take a seat."

Old man Qin nodded: "Master Gao, please."

"Thanks—"

Although most of the dishes are vegetarian, the chickens and ducks raised by the farmers are stewed and served on the table, and the fresh fish caught in the rice fields shows the hospitality of the farmers.

When everyone sat down, Old Man Qin said, "Coarse tea and light rice, I hope everyone can eat it."

"Thank you, sir, the meal is so rich."

"Hehe, please try our own wine here."

The wine was just taken out of the cellar, in a small black porcelain bowl, Gao Yiming picked it up, took a sip, the mouth was fragrant, and the aftertaste was long.

"Good wine!"

"Haha, thank you, please—please—"

The food was also very delicious, but Yuan Guifei seemed to be a little unaccustomed to eating farm food, so Gao Yiming helped her sandwich some appetizing dishes.

After the meal, Gao Yiming chatted with Old Man Qin for a while, but he refused Old Man Qin's offer to stay overnight.

After learning that their village still uses oxen to plough the land, Gao Yiming gave him a tractor the next day, which moved the people in the village very much.

Coming to Hangzhou——

"This West Lake is so beautiful."

"Yes, didn't Su University say, if you want to compare the West Lake to Xizi, it is always appropriate to apply light makeup and heavy makeup, the beautiful scenery of West Lake began in the Sui and Tang dynasties, flourished in the Song and Yuan dynasties, and also made the city prosperous."

"I see, I have heard of this West Lake scenery before, and today I see that it is really like this, it is much more than the Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing."

"Xuanwu Lake was dug artificially later, and the West Lake was formed naturally, and then it was artificially built to have its current scale, which has always attracted many literati and ink writers to splash their pen and ink here."

"Yes, the poems about West Lake have never been broken."

"Yes, the water in this West Lake is living water, so the water quality is good, you see, the fish in it can be seen."

Yuan Guifei happily pointed to the swimming fish in the water and said, "Master, let's rent a boat and swim in the lake."

"Yes."

It was very easy, Gao Yiming and they rented a big painting boat, and everyone got on the boat.

"Look, there are a lot of big fish in this water, and the water is quite comfortable to touch."

Gao Yiming also paddled his hand in the water and said with a smile: "It's really good, if you like it, you can take off your shoes and put your feet in the water more comfortably."

"No, how embarrassing it is for so many people on the water."

"Hahaha - what's embarrassing, no one knows us, besides, my daughter-in-law's happiness is the first thing."

"Thank you, master-" Yuan Guifei hugged Gao Yiming's arm and coquettishly.

After swimming in the West Lake, Gao Yiming and others walked along the lake, and when they walked to a cloth shop, they happened to meet two officials accompanying an official to collect taxes, so Gao Yiming decided to follow them to see the tax situation.

As soon as he entered the door, the official at the head arched his hands and said with a smile: "Wishing you prosperity, Zhou Shopkeeper, seeing that your family's business is prosperous, we are also happy." You bring the books, find a quiet room, and we will calculate your taxes for the quarter by ourselves, so as not to disturb your business. “

Gao Yiming nodded, this official is still like a parent official, he is kind and angry, and he makes money with kindness, which makes him have a good impression of this tax official.

The boss who was called Zhou's shopkeeper hurriedly brought the account books and personally took them to the next room to calculate the accounts.

"Shopkeeper Zhou, it's not the first time we've dealt with each other, you don't have to work here personally, just call a guy to come, you can get busy, we'll call you after the accounting."

"Yes, yes - San'er, you are here to serve the officials, don't slack off." After instructing the guys, Shopkeeper Zhou returned to the front hall with a salute, and just saw Gao Yiming and his party coming in, so he immediately greeted him.

"You don't know what you need?"

"Let's take a look."

"Of course—of course—guest officer, please, look at it at will, we have all the best materials, some made of cotton and linen, and some of silk."

"Boss, I just saw a few tax collectors come in, where are they?"

"Oh, a few officials are settling accounts in the quiet room."

"We still have a quiet room in the store."

"Yes, in order to make it easier for big customers to talk about things."

Gao Yiming nodded, continued to walk around the store, and after a while, the official who had finished checking the accounts came out, and the official led by him smiled: "Shopkeeper Zhou, your waist is getting thicker and thicker, there were hundreds of thousands of taels in and out last season, it's amazing, now the national tax rate is low, and there is only one kind, it is difficult for you to be rich."

"Thanks to the blessings of adults, it is all the good national policies that have made our people's lives better these years."

"You're right, this is the tax you should pay, are you right?"

"Naturally, it's right, according to the old rules, can I pay taxes with a silver ticket?"

"Of course." After the tax collector took the silver ticket handed over by the shopkeeper Zhou and checked that it was correct, he put it away and stamped the tax stamp, indicating that the tax of the family had been paid.

Before the tax collector could walk out of the door, Gao Yiming stopped him: "You, it's you, bring your tax books and I'll take a look."

As an official, he acts by his eyes, and from Gao Yiming's dress and the followers, he knows that his identity is not ordinary.

The tax official clasped his fist at him and saluted: "This brother, I know that your status is noble, but there are laws in the imperial court, and Hu Cao's account books are not suitable for outsiders to see, and the law is strict, and the officials dare not violate it, if the noble person has a warrant for Hu Cao to join the army, there is naturally no taboo."

Listening to the tax official's unrelenting and humble answer, Gao Yiming also knew where the national law was, so he didn't embarrass him, but turned his head to look at Shi Kefa and asked him to think of a way.

"Okay—okay—please."

When he came to the quiet room, Shi Kefa only called the tax collector in, Shi Kefa handed him his official seal, and the little official saw that it was the university scholar who arrived, and immediately knelt on the ground, Shi Kefa asked him to get up and said: "This official is here for a private visit, don't make a noise, you hand over the account book to the son just now, and the official will ensure that you are fine."

As soon as the tax official heard Shi Kefa say this, who else could make such a big official as Shi Kefa saddle up and behind, except for the emperor, the tax officer who had never seen the emperor in his life was a little excited.

Shi Kefa instructed again: "Don't be quiet."

The tax official nodded, and at this time, Gao Yiming and Yuan Guifei also came in from outside, and the tax officer immediately knelt on the ground, Gao Yiming asked him to get up, and took the account book that the tax officer carefully sent over and looked at it.

After reading it, Gao Yiming said: "There are one hundred and eighty of them with more than 10,000 yuan in taxes in a quarter, are the small shops here so rich now?"

"If you go back to Gongzi, now the imperial court tax rate is extremely low, and our trade has reached many foreign countries, and some merchants have earned back a mountain of silver."

"As a tax collector, you should know a lot about national taxation, tell me your opinion."

"Yes! Because we are now implementing the tax rate during the Taizu period, the tax rate is too low, I think it is more reasonable to raise it by another three to four percent, so that the rich people will not become too rich, and the increased tax can also be used to build infrastructure at the local level. ”

"What you said is good, but the tax policy involves a wide range of aspects, and how to adjust it still needs to be demonstrated and investigated by many parties, you are good, I remember you, you go."

The tax collector took the account book and exited the door, only to find that his back was wet at some point.